CIMSS-NOAA Weekly Report [ Archive ]

CIMSS-NOAA WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 19, 2025

DATA, INFORMATION, AND USE-INSPIRED SCIENCE:

CIMSS Next Generation Fire System (NGFS) Performance Assessments: The Next Generation Fire System (NGFS) has undergone rapid development in recent years, which has led to robust algorithm performance for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R) series Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI). Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) scientists recently completed work that extends the active fire detection capabilities of the NGFS to other geostationary satellites by providing preliminary scientific analysis and technical support to advance the readiness of products from the Meteosat Third Generation-I1 (MTG-I1) and Himawari-9 satellites. The project assessed algorithm performance by comparing the NGFS fire detections with satellite imagery generated using a tool developed at CIMSS and then displayed in RealEarth. The primary goal was to identify patterns in false positives that could be used to improve algorithm performance. NGFS performance for Himawari and MTG was generally good, and the issues identified were within expectations. Reflected sunlight, stray light, and differential surface heating are the most common causes for false detections. Future work will address these issues. (J. Otkin, CIMSS, 608-265-2476, C. Schmidt, CIMSS, 608-262-7973, Mike Pavolonis, NOAA)

  (Click image to enlarge)

Figure: NGFS Himawari-9 fire detections over Mongolia at 0200 UTC on 10 March 2025. The polygons depict the outlines of the infrared pixels where the fires were detected. The background image is the red visible band and shows burn scars as darker gray regions.

CIMSS evaluation of 2025 minimum Sea Ice Extent shows significant gains over parts of the Arctic: Recently, the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) declared that September 10 was the minimum Sea Ice Extent for 2025 over the Arctic. The minimum extent was observed to be 1.78 million square miles, which is about 140,000 square miles larger than the previous year. The NOAA AMSR2 Sea Ice Concentration (SIC) that is routinely analyzed and evaluated at CIMSS, shows year over year gains in sea ice were observed primarily over the eastern Beaufort Sea, M'Clure Strait, and East Siberian Sea (Figure 1). (R. Dworak, CIMSS, 608-265-8620. J. Key, CIMSS, 608-890-4239, and Y. Liu, NOAA-E/RA2, 608-890-1893 

  (Click image to enlarge)

Figure: Top on the left (right) is AMSR2 NASA Team-2 SIC from September 15 for 2024 (2025). Bottom is the year over year differences in SIC.

PEOPLE, AWARDS AND RECOGNITION:

TRAVEL AND MEETINGS:

TRAINING AND EDUCATION:

MEDIA INTERACTIONS AND REQUESTS:

SOCIAL MEDIA AND BLOG Posts:

CIMSS Satellite Blog Updates: The Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) Satellite Blog (https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/) was updated with the following posts: "Outbreak of tornadoes across North Dakota" (Sep. 14) and "Resuspended volcanic ash from the 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens" (Sep. 16). (S. Bachmeier, CIMSS)

  (Click image to enlarge)

Figure: GOES-19 Visible (left) and Infrared (right) images at 2231 UTC on 14 September 2025 -- which include time-matched SPC Storm Reports of tornadoes (T) plotted in red/blue.

  (Click image to enlarge)

Figure: GOES-18 Split Cloud Top Phase brightness temperature difference image at 1611 UTC on 16 September 2025 -- showing a small plume of resuspended volcanic ash from the 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens (darker shades of blue), and a Pilot Report (red) of resuspended ash reaching an altitude of 10000 feet.

PUBLICATIONS:

OTHER: