Algorithm Scientific Software Integration and System Transition Team (ASSISTT) in Transition from Research to Operations

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R), is designed to provide continuous data including but not limited to atmospheric, oceanic, and climatic measurements of Earth’s Western Hemisphere. The Algorithm Scientific Software Integration and System Transition Team (ASSISTT) at NOAA/NESDIS/STAR specializes in the design, development, transition, and maintenance of GOES-R algorithm processing systems and their products. It bridges the gap between research and operations. ASSISTT has been successful in transitioning product updates to GOES-R because it provides quality assurance (QA) throughout the entire algorithm transition process. In particular, the science QA members of ASSISTT focus on the scientific integrity of algorithms throughout the transition process. Since the implementation of the original GOES-R baseline operational algorithms, the retrieval algorithms have undergone constant and significant improvements by the Algorithm Working Group (AWG). In order to facilitate code updates and tracking of these updates, ASSISTT creates code mappings on a regular basis from the baseline algorithm and the operational version of the code, which could be in different programming languages. For new algorithms, ASSISTT’s scientific support team creates Algorithm Description Documents (ADDs) based on the delivered code and the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD). ADDs serve as the guidance for ASSISTT’s integration team to add or update algorithms in the ground system. ASSISTT delivers developed and updated operational GOES-R algorithms to the Ground System (GS) via the Algorithm Testing Tool (ATT). The state-of-the-art GOES-R GS will receive data from the GOES-R satellite and consequently generate the real-time operational products to make it available for a wide spectrum of users. ASSISTT regularly performs validation of ATT outputs by comparing it with outputs from the ASSISTT framework, working with the AWG science team to identify and resolve any discrepancies.