A Proposal to Update LRIT to Provide Reliable Rebroadcast Tool for GOES DCS

Information Update for TWG

Kay MetcalfNOAA GOES DCS Program Manager

May 12, 2011

May 2011 NOAA GOES DCS 2

GOES DCS Rebroadcast• Currently Provided through Commercial DOMSAT contract• Has Worked Well for Many years but has become logistically

cumbersome– Contract Mechanism to Encourage Free and Open Competition Makes it

Difficult to Manage User Transitions Required• Requiring Technology Continuity Restricts Competition to only one vendor

– Coverage Restricted to Continental U.S.– Cost otherwise would most likely be prohibitive– Vendor currently providing more coverage, but is “at will”

• Could be changed at any time because contract does not require hemispheric coverage

– Exchanging fund between government agencies to fund contract has become very difficult

May 2011 NOAA GOES DCS 3

DOMSAT Status

• Final Option Year of DOMSAT contract exercised• Beginning new one year bridge contract

– Paperwork in progress

• 2011 (Sept) funded by NOS, USGS, BLM, BR and USACE– MOU’s set up for BLM and USACE (amendments in progress)– MOU in progress for BR– USGS made “quid pro quo” arrangement with NOS– NOS funds directly tapped through procurement documents (means

no MOU required)– NESDIS (Kay’s office) providing $12k

• NESDIS will combine all DOMSAT service contracts for 5 year follow on contract

• Suggested Changes to LRIT makes it viable replacement

Low Rate Information Transfer (LRIT)

• GOES Rebroadcast of NESDIS products– Primary Function to provide user access to NESDIS satellite

products at low cost – “Packetized format”

• Information Packaged in Small Files

– GOES DCS Rebroadcast Provided to provide low cost reception of data to platform owners

• Products created at NOAA Satellite Operations Facility (NSOF) in Suitland, MD

• Transferred to WCDA via land lines• Transmitted to satellite at Wallops

Nov-2010 NOAA GOES DCS 4

GOES DCS Into LRIT

• Uses an LRGS client with username “LRIT”– Originally implemented because DAPS code could not be modified– LRGS located at Wallops– LRGS user makes request to WCDA for data every 30 seconds– File created and transferred to LRIT system in Suitland– Inserted into LRIT stream at Suitland

• LRIT stream transferred to WCDA• Infamous “double hop”

Nov-2010 NOAA GOES DCS 5

Vulnerabilities

• Priority assignments could provide conflicts when system fully loaded (not seen yet)– Currently DCS Random has Priority “1”– Regular DCS has Priority “2”– Must be integrated with standard LRIT data stream (i.e. images)

• LRGS is separate process for technical staff to monitor• Interfaces unclear

– Sometimes WCDA thinks LRIT is down– Sometimes LRIT technicians think “DCS” is down – An extra step for technicians to remember

• Manual restart process required in case of nonstandard actions like reboot

Nov-2010 NOAA GOES DCS 6

Recommendation for DCS Insert into LRIT

• DADDS is DCS Standard Distribution System• LRIT stream similar to DOMSAT and NWSTG streams• Provide “spicket” to feed LRIT from DADDS• ADVANTAGES:

– Only one platform to maintain– Only one process to restart

• DADDS from NSOF insert DCS into LRIT• Backup LRIT at WCDA can be fed by WCDA DADDS

– IF LRIT at NSOF goes down WCDA will pick up operations

May 2011 NOAA GOES DCS 7

Recommendation to Remedy Priority Concerns

• LRIT system on GOES-R renamed “HRIT/EMWIN”– Data rate faster so “High Rate” instead of “Low Rate”– Emergency Managers Weather Information Network (EMWIN)

stream combined

• Proposal to GOES-R from LRIT, EMWIN and DCS programs:– Provide virtual channels for each service

• HRIT will have one stream

• EMWIN will have one stream

• DCS Rebroadcast will have one stream

• Each service given channels based on predefined bandwidth

• Priorities for each service will be determined within those bands by the program (DCS will define priorities for their portion of uplink, etc.)

May 2011 NOAA GOES DCS 8

Status of GOES-R Proposal

• Integrated Product Team (IPT) formed• Initial discussions begin• Funding not yet Confirmed to Build Ground System

Nov-2010 NOAA GOES DCS 9

NEXT Steps for DCS

• Closely monitor HRIT/EMWIN Discussions– DCS team members on IPT

• Close to Decision within a few months• Begin Analysis of Changes Required for Receivers

Quickly– High hopes that not many changes required

• Continue Existing DOMSAT contract for 5 years to allow time for Transition

Nov-2010 NOAA GOES DCS 10