The Joint Polar Satellite System: Providing Operational Science Data Products to Improve Weather Forecasting and Near-Real-Time Applications

The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite launched in October 2011 has been extremely successful in operations for the last six years and has produced an array of very high quality atmospheric, land, ocean, and cryosphere data products from five major instruments: the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS), the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS), the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) and Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES). The JPSS-1 satellite (named as NOAA-20) launched on November 11, 2017 carries aboard the same instrument complements currently operating on S-NPP and provides continuity of the high quality data products currently provided through S-NPP, along with additional products as a direct result of the instrument upgrades and science improvements. The S-NPP and NOAA-20, with their on-board suite of sensors, are providing a variety of high quality radiances and geophysical data products to improve weather forecasting and many near-real-time applications. This paper provides an overview of the S-NPP/NOAA-20 operational data products, research and experimental products available for a wide variety of atmospheric, land, ocean, and cryosphere applications. The validation maturity and performance of the NOAA-20 data products, planned algorithm improvements, and status of reprocessed data records for the SNPP and NOAA-20 data products will also be presented.