JPSS CrIS Imagery for Weather Forecasters

Water vapor imagery collected by NOAA weather satellites plays a critical role in the operational forecast and analysis process. Such imagery is often the first piece of information analyzed by operational weather forecasters on shift, and helps forecasters to understand the key drivers for upcoming weather events. Large scale features and phenomena that can be diagnosed in the water vapor imagery and downstream multispectral imagery products include the longwave trough/ridge pattern, shortwave troughs and ridges, jet streaks, and cyclogenesis, to name a few. Further, operational forecasters compare water vapor imagery with relevant fields from Numerical Weather Prediction Models in order to assess a model’s handling of the atmospheric situation.

Despite the great value to weather forecasters, water vapor imagery in the high latitudes is lacking. In the low-to-mid-latitudes, water vapor imagery from the NOAA GOES weather satellites is utilized heavily by weather forecasters. However, in high latitudes, GOES pixel size expands dramatically beyond 65N/S, becoming unusable beyond 70N/S. High-latitude forecasters leverage imagery from polar-orbiting satellites given the relative abundant coverage at these latitudes. Unfortunately, water vapor imagery is lacking from present polar-orbiting weather satellite Imagers, with no such channels available on the previous generation NOAA and MetOP AVHRR instrument, or the current generation JPSS VIIRS instrument. The aging Terra and Aqua MODIS instrument has two water vapor channels, and the future Metop-SG METImage instrument will also have two water vapor channels.

In order to dramatically and quickly improve the availability of water vapor imagery at the high latitudes, imagery production from NOAA JPSS CrIS has recently begun. To start, CrIS imagery corresponding to eight of the GOES ABI IR bands, one VIIRS IR band, and two Red-Green-Blue multispectral imagery products has been developed. These channels were chosen to allow for comparisons with existing imagery products, to ensure familiarity with forecasters, and to take advantage of the unique spectral capabilities of CrIS. From the initial products being produced, the three water vapor bands, an Airmass RGB, and an SO2-Ash RGB provide unique value to the high latitudes. Numerous case studies have been scrutinized, feedback from users has been collected, and the CrIS imagery is being generated in real-time. This presentation will share CrIS imagery examples, operational applications, and forecaster feedback up to this point.