CIMSS-NOAA Weekly Report [ Archive ]

CIMSS-NOAA WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING MAY 22, 2026

DATA, INFORMATION, AND USE-INSPIRED SCIENCE:

PEOPLE, AWARDS AND RECOGNITION:

TRAVEL AND MEETINGS:

TRAINING AND EDUCATION:

CIMSS Scientist Visits Pacific Weather Service Offices for Training, Forecaster Feedback: Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) Scientist Tim Wagner recently traveled to the National Weather Service forecast offices in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Pago Pago, American Samoa, to engage with forecasters and conduct training on operational use of weather satellites. These forecast offices have some unusual challenges that can only be met with satellites due to their remote situations and large areas of coverage. Training topics included a refresher on satellite meteorology basics, satellite applications for tropical systems, direct broadcast applications, and use of NOAA Unique Combined Atmospheric Processing System (NUCAPS) satellite-based profiles. Forecasters shared their preferred tools for operational use in these environments, including the CIMSS Morphed Integrated Microwave Imagery at CIMSS Total Precipitable Water 2 (MIMIC-TPW2) and the CIMSS Steering Layer products alongside more traditional tools like geostationary visible and infrared imagery. Forecasters and managers are eager to increase the use of Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) products in their daily operations as the microwave products provide a unique view of tropical phenomena that aren’t available from geostationary platforms.

CIMSS presentation at LEO Science Seminar: Tom Greenwald from the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) gave an invited talk, titled “Spatial Enhancement of AMSR2 Sea Ice Imagery through Deep Learning,” at this month's Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Science Seminar on 18 May 2026. The presentation detailed recent results from his LEO Innovation project on using advanced deep learning models to generate super-resolution Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-2 (AMSR2) imagery for sea ice applications.  (T. Greenwald, CIMSS, 608-263-3629)

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Figure: Super-resolution (SR) AMSR2 36H GHz imagery reconstructed over the Kara Sea based on 4x degraded (40 km) low resolution (LR) AMSR2 input for a Swin-IR + ESRGAN model, where the high-resolution (HR) target is the native resolution (10 km) AMSR2 imagery. Far right panel shows brightness temperature differences between the SR and HR images.

MEDIA INTERACTIONS AND REQUESTS:

SOCIAL MEDIA AND BLOG Posts:

CIMSS Satellite Blog Updates: The Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) Satellite Blog was updated with the following posts: "Tremendous Dust Storm Across the Northern Plains" (May 15), "Grass fires produce 2 pyrocumulonimbus clouds in southwestern Kansas" (May 15), "Wildfire Near Lake Superior’s North Shore" (May 16), "Fast-moving Sharpe Fire prompts the issuance of an Evacuation Immediate order in southeast Colorado" (May 17), "1-minute GOES-18 imagery to monitor flash flooding potential across American Samoa" (May 18) and "Leeside cold frontal gravity wave as viewed by GOES-18/16/19" (May 19). (S. Bachmeier, T. Wagner, CIMSS, 608-890-1980)

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Figure: Mid-level Water Vapor images from GOES-18 (left), GOES-16 (center) and GOES-19 (right) at 0901 UTC on May 19, 2026 -- showing a leeside cold frontal gravity wave that was propagating southward across the central/southern Plains.

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Figure: GOES-19 True Color RGB image at 0000 UTC on May 15, 2026 -- showing a large plume of dense blowing dust that was being transported eastward across Montana and North Dakota, then northward across Manitoba.

PUBLICATIONS:

WMO Statement of Guidance for Cryosphere Applications published: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published its Statement of Guidance for Cryosphere Applications. The WMO Rolling Review of Requirements (RRR) defines a number of Earth System Application Categories (ESACs), and for each ESAC, a Statement of Guidance (SOG) is compiled to address the most important gaps in Earth system observation capabilities. The findings of the SOG are intended to help direct investment in observation infrastructure, bearing in mind that observational data can often support multiple applications. The compilation of the SOG is the result of extensive consultation with communities of expert practitioners and users within each of the ESAC application areas (AAs). SoGs for Atmospheric and Oceanic applications were also just published. The primary authors of the Cryosphere SoG are J. Key (CIMSS), S. Kern (U. Hamburg), T. Lavergne (Norwegian Met. Inst.), P. de Rosnay (ECMWF), K. Loujus (Finnish Met. Inst.), and C. Mortimer (ECCC). Citation: WMO, 2026, Statement of Guidance for the Earth System Application Category Cryospheric Applications, WMO-1394, 91 pp., ISBN 978-92-63-978-92-63-11394-8. (J. Key, CIMSS, 608-890-4239)

OTHER: