sport products in support of the goes-r proving ground and nws forecast operations

SPoRT Products in Support of the GOES-R Proving Ground and NWS Forecast Operations

Andrew MolthanNASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

NWS Eastern Region Satellite Virtual WorkshopNovember 9, 2010

transitioning unique NASA data and research technologies to operations

Overview of SPoRT Activities

Mission Objective:Transition unique NASA data and research technologies to operations

Emphasis: 0-48 hour forecast periodActivities: Long history (5+ years) of collaborative work with Southern Region WFOs

Currently expanding with targeted collaborations in other regions.


Partners Receiving DataSPoRT Partner WFOsNWS Regional HQsDirect Broadcast sites

Eastern Region offices are a new partnership in the development of a Great Lakes temperature composite.


SPoRT and the GOES-R Proving Ground

• Development of GOES-R ABI proxies from MODIS– True color composites– Fog / Snow detection– Hybrid of GOES/MODIS

• Development of GLM proxies from lightning mapping arrays– Total lightning– Lightning trends and jumps– Relationships to severe weather

and lead time• Demonstrate products within the

AWIPS and AWIPS II decision support systems.

AWIPS

AWIPS II

MODIS Single Channel • The primary challenge in

using polar orbiting data is temporal resolution.

• SPoRT has developed a “hybrid technique” that replaces GOES pixels with MODIS when available.

• This allows for looping and viewing of higher resolution data comparable to GOES-R.

MODIS

GOES

IR Hybrid Example


MODIS Channel Differencing

• Current MODIS bands can be used as proxies for future GOES-R ABI capabilities

• Single channel and channel differencing techniques produce higher resolution products than currently available from GOES.

Fog

Overlay of the channel differencing MODIS fog product with semi-transparent terrain in AWIPS, highlighting valley fogs in high spatial resolution (1 km).


MODIS Color Composites• The GOES-R ABI will have

additional spectral bands, allowing for color composites.

• Color composites assist with image classification and the detection of various features.

• SPoRT provides these products in AWIPS for evaluation and testing.

landsnow

cloud False Color Composite

True Color Composite

fire/burn scar

smok

e plume


Developing RGB Image Techniques• EUMETSAT has developed several

multispectral “RGB” composites from the SEVERI instrument.

• By combining information from multiple channels, resulting images depict:– Air mass characteristics– Cloud microphysics– Separation of fog, low cloud, snow– Dust and other aerosols

• SPoRT is experimenting with techniques to display these images in:– NAWIPS– AWIPS– AWIPS II


MODIS “Air Mass” in AWIPS

Hurricane “Earl” (MODIS)

Lightning Proxies for GLM• The Geostationary Lightning Mapper

(GLM) will assist in the detection and prediction of severe weather.

• As a proxy for GLM capabilities, SPoRT provides data from lightning mapping arrays:– North Alabama (NALMA)– Washington, D.C. (DCLMA)– NASA Kennedy Space Center– Other networks are available in

CONUS and data are requested• These LMAs are used to develop

products comparable to future GLM capabilities.

land


Possible GLM Coverage and 95-05 Lightning Climatology

LMA Coverage

Utility of Lightning Data• In addition to public safety,

lightning data provides information related to storm strength and intensification.

• The “lightning jump” technique has been used to predict severe weather.

• Future GLM capabilities may provide similar datasets for “jump detection” over CONUS.

land


Updraft Intensifies

Vortex Spin-up

The SPoRT “Pseudo-GLM” Product• Serves as a placeholder

until the official GLM proxy is available.

• Evaluated as part of the SPC Hazardous Weather Testbed Spring Experiment.

• Receives CONUS LMA datasets as inputs and downscales to a resolution (8 km) comparable to the GLM capabilities.

land


LMA

Pseudo GLM

Future GLM flash rates will help to identify updraft centers within other satellite imagery.

updraft


Related SPoRT Research Activities• SPoRT research assists partner

WFOs with their local modeling efforts.

• SPoRT facilitates new model development:– WRF-EMS hourly maximum output

fields– Lightning forecast algorithms for

the NSSL WRF• SPoRT also provides unique

initialization data sets:– Sea and lake surface temperatures– Land Information System soil

moisture

Hourly Maximum Updraft Helicity

WRF Lightning Threat Prediction

Lightning Prediction Algorithm• Based upon the McCaul et

al. 2009 (WAF) technique.• Uses graupel flux and

vertically integrated ice to predict lightning threat from WRF-simulated thunderstorms.

• Calibrated using NALMA data and WSM6 microphysics.


Lightning threat prediction for organized thunderstorms in the southeast. Predicted units are flash rates per square kilometer, per 5 minutes.

WRF Environmental Modeling System• SPoRT is heavily involved in developing

new data sets for the WRF Environmental Modeling System (WRF-EMS).

• WRF-EMS is a convenient suite of the WRF model and post-processing routines.– Products are available through selection

in WRF-EMS scripts.• SPoRT currently provides:

– Sea surface temperatures– Great Lakes temperatures and ice cover– High resolution output from the Land

Information System• Future efforts include:

– Vegetation composites – AIRS profile assimilation


Soil Moisture Difference0-10 cm (LIS – CNTRL, %)

SPoRT SST Grid

Future NDVI Composites

Summary

• SPoRT participates in the GOES-R Proving Ground, developing products for real-time use that are comparable to future GOES-R capabilities.– Current applications of MODIS and lightning data– Emphasizes collaborative partnerships with WFOs,

focused on their forecast challenges.• In addition to GOES-R Proving Ground, SPoRT

provides a variety of products for real-time use.– WRF-EMS initialization fields– Unique model outputs developed in SPoRT collaborations


sport products in support of the goes-r proving ground and nws forecast operations

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