Developing Meteorological Forecast Products in Near Real-Time from Hyper Spectral Sounder Radiances

The Hampton University NASA supported Center for Atmospheric Research and Education (CARE) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison SSEC NOAA supported Joint Polar Satellite System Proving Ground and Risk Reduction (JPSS/PGRR) Project are developing meteorological forecast products derived in near real-time from Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) hyperspectral sounding radiances acquired at the HU and UW receiving stations. The DBS Satellite calibrated and Earth located radiance data are provided using the University of Wisconsin Community Satellite Processing Package (CSPP) installed on the DBS data processing computers co-located with the DBS antennas. The hyperspectral instruments considered here include the CrIS on S-NPP and JPSS-1, the IASI on the Metop-A and Metop-B, and the AIRS on the EOS Aqua satellites. The products derived from these instruments have a time resolution from 1 to 6 hours and a spatial resolution of ~ 15-km. In addition, similar forecast products are produced from a combination of GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) radiances, provided via Internet from the University of Wisconsin, with the DBS hyperspectral sounding radiances. These combined polar and geostationary satellite radiance derived soundings have a spatial resolution of 2-km and a temporal resolution of one hour, with a capability to produce these products with a frequency of five minutes. The products are available through a web page for the Virginia/North Carolina and the Wisconsin/Northern-Illinois regions. The intent is to provide nowcasting weather data to the Wakefield (AKQ) and the Sullivan/Milwaukee (MKX) regional Weather Service Forecast Offices for their assessment of operational utility.

The products include temperature, moisture, stability (i.e., Lifted Index and CAPE), as well as cloud pressure altitude and surface skin temperature. The temperature, moisture, and stability products are presented as (1) Satellite + RAP, where the Rapid Refresh Model (RAP) 2-hour forecast is included wherever there is a void of a satellite sounding value due to cloud obscuration and (2) Satellite minus RAP which shows the location of the satellite values and their difference with the RAP 2-hour forecast. Thus, the Satellite + RAP product is believed to be the best estimate of the meteorological temperature and moisture variables for the regions of interest.

The product web page also provides satellite sounding validation statistics and individual comparisons with the radiosondes at all stations within the VA/NC and WI/IL regions of interest. The validation statistics are provided on a daily basis. Also, the S-NPP CrIS DBS soundings are compared with those produced by the CSPP using the operational NOAA Unique Combined Atmospheric Processing System (NUCAPS) retrieval algorithm.

This joint University, NASA, and NOAA project is a successful example of transitioning research-to-operations for improving intense weather predictions at the regional level.