Demonstrating NPOESS/VIIRS Imaging Capabilities Over the Continental United States with MODIS

During the recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL-Monterey) Satellite Meteorological Applications Section cooperated with elements of NASA, NOAA, and Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) to provide near real-time research grade Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS; carried aboard NASA Terra and Aqua satellites) imagery products for use by Department of Defense (DoD) assets in a pseudo-operational setting. This highly successful web-based user interface, dubbed Satellite Focus, was available only to DoD assets owing to the information's regional/temporal/contextual sensitivity. Under the auspices of the National Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite System's (NPOESS) Integrated Program office, NRL is now moving forward with a public demonstration of Satellite Focus over the continental United States (CONUS). The products, which include improved deep convection analysis, low cloud detection at night, high/low cloud and snow discriminators, cirrus detection, and significant dust storm enhancement (e.g., over the desert southwest), are among several others leveraging the superb spatial and spectral resolution offered by the MODIS sensors. As similar spatial, spectral, and radiometric resolution will exist operationally aboard the NPOESS constellation, the CONUS Satellite Focus page serves several purposes, providing i) an ad-hoc demonstration of how the DoD/NOAA/NASA interagency collaboration served the national interest during Operations Enduring/Iraqi Freedom, ii) a preview of future operational products anticipated in the NPOESS era, and iii) an opportunity to develop antecedently new VIIRS applications by leveraging contemporary sensors. This paper presents an overview of the CONUS Satellite Focus web page and highlights selected products drawn from the diverse meteorological phenomenology characterizing the CONUS domain.