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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