JPSS Satellites May Provide Valuable Information for .... Among other topics ... quency data from...
Transcript of JPSS Satellites May Provide Valuable Information for .... Among other topics ... quency data from...
From Harry WelcometothesecondissueoftheJPSSQuarterlyNewsletter;wearepleasedtoshareourcontinuedsuccesswithyou.TheSuomiNationalPolarPartnership(Suomi-NPP)missioncontinuestooperatewell.WedeclareditastheprimarypolarsatelliteforweatheratNOAA,takingoverforNOAA-19onMay1.TheJPSS-1missionisalsoprogressingwell.TwoJPSS-1instruments—CERESandOMPS—andtheJPSS-1Mis-sionCriticalDesignReviewwerecompleted.Iwouldliketothankourpartnersacrossgovernmentandindustrywhosehardworkanddedicationtomissionwillensurewedeliverthiscriticalsatellitesystemonscheduleandonbudget.WehopethatyouenjoyedthefirstissueoftheJPSSNewsletterinApril,andifyouhavenothadachancetoreadityoumaydosobyclickinghere.
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JPSS Satellites May Provide Valuable Information for Active Wildfire Detection OnApril21,JPSSandGOES-RcolleaguesandscientistsparticipatedinthesecondjointJPSSandGOES-RScienceSeminar.Amongothertopics,theydiscussedhowJPSSsatellitedataplayedaroleinactivefiredetectionduringlastyear’swildfires,andwhatlessonslearnedinthe2013seasoncouldbeincorporatedtobettersupportthefed-eral,stateandlocalwildfiresuppressionactivities.
IvanCsiszar,JPSSactivefireproductdevelopmentteamleadfromNOAA/NESDISCenterforSatelliteApplicationsandResearchpresentedfindingstotheaudience,alongwithtwocolleaguesfromUniversityofMaryland,CollegeParkandUniversityofWisconsin-Madison.
“Satelliteobservationscanprovidevaluableinformationonthelocationandintensityoffireevents,particularlyinremoteareasandduringperiodsofthedaywhenground-basedandairborneobservationsarescarceor
notavailableatall,”Csiszarsaid.“Thisinformationcanalsosupportsmokeandairqualityanalysisandforecasts,aswellasthepredictionoffuturefirebehavior.”
ThehostsalsodescribedhowtheVIIRSinstrument,aswellasinstrumentsonGeostationaryOperationalEnviron-mentalSatellites(GOES),providedadditionalinformation,likefirelocationandintensity,toincidentmeteorologists(IMETs)fromNOAA’sNationalWeatherService(NWS).
QuarterlyNewsletterApril-June2014
Issue2
…DatafromJPSSsatellitessupportallofNOAA’smissionareas,includingpreparingforamore“Weather-ReadyNation.”
A collaborative mission between NOAA and NASA www.jpss.noaa.gov
NOAA NESDIS
Harry CikanekDirector
Figure 1. This May 15, 2014 image, captured by the VIIRS instru-ment on the NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite, shows numerous large wildfires burning across sections of northern Baja and south-ern California, producing plumes of moderate to dense smoke. Credit: NOAA Visualization Lab
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IMETsprovidecriticalsituationalintelligencetoinformincidentdecisionsonthegroundduringwildfires,likethe2013CaliforniaRimFire.Inonlyfourdays,theRimFiregrewtomorethan100,000acresinresponsetoaheatwave,record-breakingdrought,andpastfiresuppression.
“ThisyearwehavelessonslearnedandwecanadjustourapproachtoimprovetheuseofVIIRSandGOESobserva-tionsandalsogetreadyforgoodqualityandhigh-fre-quencydatafromnextgenerationgeostationaryinstru-ments,”Csiszarsaid.
Theanalysisandfindingsfromthe2013fireswillbevaluableasthe2014fireseasongetsunderway.RecentfiresinSanDiegoCounty,CaliforniaandtheBajaPeninsulaprovethatthedroughtconditionsintheregionmakeitvulnerabletofire.
“Wewillbeworkingfurthertoensurequickandeasyaccesstothesatelliteinformationtohelpdecisionmak-inginsituationswhentimeiscritical,”Csiszarsaid.“Withabetterunderstandingoftheon-the-groundoperations,wewillworkondevelopingaone-stop,customizedinter-facetoallapplicablesatelliteproducts,suchasModerateResolutionImagingSpectroradiometer(MODIS),VIIRSandGOES,andcontinuetheinteractionwiththeendus-ersviaon-sitevisitsandtrainingandoutreachactivities.”
Two JPSS-1 Instruments Another Step Closer to IntegrationTwoofthefiveinstrumentsthatwillflyontheJPSS-1satellitesuccessfullycompletedpre-shipmentreviewthisquarter.TheCloudsandtheEarth’sRadiantEnergySystem(CERES)andOzoneMappingProfilerSuite(OMPS)willbeonboardtheJPSS-1satellitemissionscheduledtolaunchinearly2017.CERESwasdeliveredinprepara-tionforspacecraftintegrationtobeginlaterthisyear.Theinstrumentmeasuresreflectedsunlightandthermal
radiationemittedbytheEarthandbuildsonthehighlysuccessfullegacyinstrumentsflownonNOAA’sprevi-ousPolar-orbitingOperationalEnvironmentalSatellites(POES)andNASA’sEarthObservingSystem(EOS)missions.Long-termsatellitedatafromCERESwillhelpscientistsandresearchersunderstandthelinksbetweentheEarth’senergybalance,bothincomingandoutgoing,andpartsoftheatmospherethataffectit.DatafromCERESwillalsoimproveobservationsofseasonalclimateforecasts,includinglarge-scaleeventslikeElNiñoandLaNiña.
OMPStracksthehealthoftheozonelayerandmeasurestheconcentrationofozoneintheEarth’satmosphere.DatafromOMPScontinuesthreedecadesoftotalozonemeasurementsandozoneprofilerecords.OMPSmea-surementsareusedbyozone-assessmentresearchersandpolicymakersasaninputtoglobalclimatemodels.Itisalsousefulwhencombinedwithcloudpredictions,whichproduceenhancedultravioletindexforecasts—provid-ingpublicawarenessabouttheharmofUVdamage.NOAA’sNationalWeatherServicecalculatestheUVIndexforecastsbasedonozonemeasurementsfromNOAAsatellitesandtheEnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA)producesthereports.
Figure 2. An imagery composite of the Rim Fire captured by the Day/Night Band on the VIIRS instrument at night, beginning August 23, 2013. Credit: NOAA
Figure 3. CERES completes thermal vacuum testing at Northrop Grumman’s manufacturing facility in Redondo Beach, Calif. This sensor will be integrated onto the JPSS-1 spacecraft, scheduled for launch in early 2017. Credit: Northrop Grumman Corporation
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Suomi NPP is Primary Polar-orbiting Weather SatelliteOnMay1,2014,theNOAA/NASASuomiNPPsatellitewasnamedastheprimaryoperationalpolar-orbitingspace-craftforNOAA’soperationalweatherforecastingmission.TheNWSusesSuomiNPPdatainitsnumericalweatherpredictionmodels.Observationsfromthesatellitesareimprovingtheaccuracyandextendingtherangeofthreetosevendayglobalforecasts,whicharecriticaltohaveinadvanceofsignificantweatherevents,includinghurri-canesandwinterstorms.
SuomiNPPhasprioritywithintheday-to-dayoperationsofNESDISandreplacesNOAA-19astheprimarysatel-lite.NOAA-19willremainacriticalpartofNOAA’spolarconstellationandprovidevaluablecontributionstoNWSforecasts.Designatingnewsatellitesasprimaryisaregu-larpartofNESDIS’satellitelifecycle.Asanewsatelliteandinstrumentsbecomeavailableandareproven,theyrisetotheprimaryposition.NWSusesJPSSdatainmodelsformedium-andlong-termforecasting.JPSSalsoenablesforecasterstomonitorandpredictnear-termweatherinPolarRegions(particu-larlyAlaska),trackweatheratnight,andenablesscientiststomonitorandpredictweatherpatternswithgreaterac-curacyandtostudylong-termclimatetrendsbyextend-ingthemorethan30-yearsatellitedatarecord.
JPSS and the 2014 Atlantic Hurricane OutlookThankstoJPSSsatellites,theabilitytousesatellitestolocateastormthatcouldevolveintoahurricanemaybecomemoreaccurateduringthisyears’Atlantichurri-caneseason,whichbeganonJune1.NOAAscientistsarefindingwaystoincorporatedatafromSuomiNPP’sVIIRS
sensorthatallowsobservationsofEarth’satmosphereandsurfaceduringnighttimehoursandoffersenhancedcapabilitytoseethroughclouds.OnMay22,NOAAis-suedtheAtlantichurricaneoutlookfor2014,withNOAA’sClimatePredictionCenterforecastinganear-normalorbelow-normalseason.Theoutlookcallsfora50percentchanceofabelow-normalseason,a40percentchanceofanear-normalseasonandonlya10percentchanceofanabove-normalseason.Themaindriverofthisyear’soutlookistheanticipateddevelopmentofElNiñothissummer.ElNiñocausesstrongerwindshear,whichreducesthenumberandintensityoftropicalstormsandhurricanes.FormoreinformationonhowJPSSsatelliteswillmakehurricaneforecastsmoreprecise,clickhere.
JPSS Program on Track: JPSS-1 Mission CDR Successfully Completed JPSScompletedasuccessfulJPSS-1MissionCriticalDesignReview(MCDR)April22-24.TheStandingRe-viewBoard(SRB)providedhighmarksfortheintegratedNOAA/NASAteam,includingmaturityofthedesign;establishedrequirementsandchangeprocesses;budgetstability,resolvingfacilitiesissues,useofanIntegratedMasterScheduled(IMS)asamanagementtool,selectionofreliableDeltaIIlaunchvehicle;andintegratedandcomprehensiveriskmanagementprocesses.
VIIRS True Color Available with NOAA ViewJustintimeforEarthDay2014,NOAAincorporatedbeautifulTrueColordatafromtheVIIRSinstrumentintotheNOAAViewportal.TrueColorimageryusesdiffer-entwavelengthsoflightdetectedbytheinstrumenttocreateacloseapproximationofhowEarthappearstothehumaneye.Althoughitisnotactualphotography,theimageryislikelookingatapictureofEarth.NOAAscien-
Figure 4. The VIIRS instrument on the NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite captured this image of Tropical Cyclone Ita near Cape Flattery, Queensland, Australia on April 11, 2014. Credit: NOAA
Figure 5. 2014 Atlantic hurricane outlook. Credit: NOAA
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tistsuse10ofVIIRS’21channelstocreatephotorealisticimageoftheplanet.Theseandotherchannelscanbecombinedtomakecompositesthatarealsousedforawiderangeofapplications,includingdifferentiatingsnowandicefromclouds,ashandsmokefromclouds,andeventheboundariesbetweenwarmandcoldairmasses.Allofthesecapabilitiesplayaroleindevelopingweatherforecaststhatcansavelives.
TheNOAAViewportalisaneducationaltoolthatprovidesasinglepointforexperiencingbeautifulimageryandotherenvironmentaldatacapturedbysatellitesandotherobservationalandanalysisplatforms.NOAAViewbringstogethermorethan60differentsetsofdata,someevenasfarbackas1880,withnewdatasetsbeingaddedregu-larly.Contentisupdatedonadaily,weekly,monthlyorannualbasisasdataobservationsandcollectionspermit.
NOAAViewiscompatiblewithallmajorinternetbrows-ers,aswellasAppleandAndroidmobiledevices.Userscanbrowse,animateanddownloadhigh-resolutionim-ageryfromtheNOAAVisualizationLab,makingitanidealtoolforputtingNOAAdataintothehandsofstudentsinclassroomsandthegeneralpublicaroundtheworld.ToseethisbeautifulTrueColorimageryvisitwww.nnvl.noaa.gov/true.php,orvisittheNOAAViewportalatwww.nnvl.noaa.gov/view.
2014 Satellite Proving Ground and User Readiness Meeting TheinauguralSatelliteProvingGroundandUserReadinessMeetingwasheldfromJune2-6andwasco-sponsoredbyJPSS.ThiscollaborativeforumwasledbyJPSSChiefProgramScientistMitchGoldberg,Ph.D.,who,alongwithhisstaff,discussedJPSSdevelopmentswithpartnersfromacrossNWS.AttendeesincludedrepresentativesfromWeatherForecastOffices(WFOs),NWSRegionalCenters,NWSRiverForecastCenters,andNationalCentersforEn-vironmentalPrediction(NCEP).NWSparticipantsbriefedonbestpracticesforusingSuomiNPPdatainoperationsandtheactionsbeingtakentoevaluatenewJPSScapabili-tiesinseasonaloperationaldemonstrations.CopiesofthebriefingsfromthismeetingareavailablebycontactingtheJPSSscienceteamatbill.sjoberg@noaa.gov.
Figure 7. 2014 Satellite Proving Ground and User Readiness Meeting, June 2-6, 2014. National Weather Service Training Center, Kansas City, Mo. Credit: NOAA
Figure 6. These side-by-side True Color images of our Earth were captured by the VIIRS instrument on the NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite. Credit: NOAA Visualization Lab
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