GOES-R Proving Ground Training at Local Wisconsin NWS Office
On 09 August 2011 two CIMSS and STAR scientists conducted a training shift with forecaster J. J. Wood at the southern Wisconsin National Weather Service (NWS) Forecast Office in Sullivan (designation of MKX).
Gary S. Wade (StAR/Advanced Satellite Products Branch (ASPB)) described and demonstrated experimental CIMSS products using (current) GOES data, which are being evaluated as proto-type products, in preparation for GOES-R; these products included GOES Imager-based convective initiation (CI) and GOES Sounder-based “Nearcasting.”
Kathy Strabala (CIMSS) described and demonstrated experimental CIMSS products which are based on select spectral bands, currently available on the NASA MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument, but to also be available on GOES-R. These products include fog/low cloud parameters, cloud type, sea surface temperature (SST), and vegetation index.
Simulated GOES-R imagery, obtained by radiative transfer projection from numerical forecast model fields, was also demonstrated, invoking a desire for the marked improvements in temporal, spatial, and spectral resolution that will come with the GOES-R imager.
Patrick Rowley, a data interpretation specialist at CIMSS, also participated in the training.