RMK Satellites ALQDS (311)
Jordan Gerth, Cooperative
Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, University of Wisconsin,
Madison, Wisconsin
Abstract:
The new generation of weather
satellites is upon us. The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) is in the process of achieving a robust weather satellite
constellation with new satellite systems in both geostationary and polar
orbits.
After the first satellite in
the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R-Series (GOES-R),
GOES-16, became the operational &ldquoEast&rdquo satellite in December
2017, the second satellite in the series launched in March 2018, and is
expected to become the operational &ldquoWest&rdquo satellite in
October 2018. Entering the low-earth orbit, the first satellite in the Joint
Polar Satellite System (JPSS) launched in November 2017 and is now NOAA-20.
Additional geostationary and polar-orbiting satellite launches are expected in
the coming years with similar instrumentation to power the weather enterprise
into the 2030s.
Meteorologists were quick to
realize the capabilities of the new satellites for rapidly imaging and
capturing amazing detail of evolving weather phenomena. But there is still more
value to unlock, starting with the spectral bands from the Advanced Baseline
Imager (ABI) on the GOES-R series.
Observations from the polar
orbit are also too often overlooked. JPSS complements the Suomi National
Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) with additional nighttime visible and
microwave imagery from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS)
and Advanced Microwave Technology Sounder (ATMS).
This presentation will
discuss how operational meteorologists can use the imagery and products from
the new era of weather satellites to assist in the daily weather forecast and
analysis workflows, focusing on the some of the new and lesser-known
applications on the horizon. Information about online training materials for the
new-generation weather satellites will also be shared.