Understanding and Solving the Satellite Product Needs of Federal Agencies: An Update on NOAA’s Interagency User Engagement Efforts through USGEO's Satellite Needs Working Group Assessment Process

Since 2015, NOAA has supported a White House initiative to better define and coordinate needs for future civil earth-observing satellite missions. This initiative is spearheaded by the U.S. Group on Earth Observation (USGEO) Satellite Needs Working Group (SNWG), which executes the satellite needs collection process by conducting a biennial survey for federal agencies to identify environmental satellite-sourced information needs and potential data gaps in programs of record and/or data sets. This survey process provides input to satellite provider agencies (e.g. NASA, NOAA, and USGS) for considerations to future sensors placed into orbit, development and improvement of data products and services, and new data delivery strategies. NOAA uses the SNWG survey cycle to capture high-priority enterprise satellite-based observation needs, whose fulfillments are key to improving mission essential products and services to the nation. This information supports National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) Research to Operations (R2O) product planning processes by providing input on the user-impact driven satellite product priorities. This input helps NOAA when considering the allocation of funding for product continuity and enhancement efforts.

NOAA Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) play a crucial role in supporting the SNWG process by serving on NASA-led thematic assessment teams to review agency satellite needs. This presentation will give an update on NOAA‘s interagency user engagement efforts in collaboration with federal partners to assess high-priority satellite needs, propose user-driven solutions to help satisfy agency needs, and address the data access challenges experienced by agencies.