The Advanced Satellite Aviation-weather Products (ASAP) initiative at the University of Wisconsin - CIMSS

A new NASA effort, the Advanced Satellite Aviation Weather Products (ASAP) initiation, has been developed to provide satellite derived meteorological products and expertise to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) weather research community. University of Wisconsin-Madison SSEC/CIMSS has been tasked to provide satellite information to the NCAR-based Aviation Weather Research Program’s (AWRP) 11 Product Development Teams (PDT).

Satellite derived products that ASAP will develop and provide to the AWRP PDTs will be value-added information for forecasting/nowcasting aviation hazards such as those caused by low ceiling/visibility, convection, turbulence, icing, volcanic ash, and wind shear. Much of the satellite data provided to NCAR will be infused into each PDT’s unique system for diagnosing a particular hazard. For ASAP in 2004 and beyond, UW will collaborate with the University of Alabama in Huntsville (see collaborating poster at conference) and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. This collaboration will bolster UW’s ASAP activities by offering expertise in data mining, pattern recognition, as well as through introduction of other remote sensing data sets (e.g., lightning). Phase 2 of ASAP activities will include incorporation of hyperspectral satellite data (AIRS, CrIS, and HES) products into the FAA PDT’s aviation hazard algorithms. This poster will present an overview of current University of Wisconsin - CIMSS ASAP research and products.