The Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation (JCSDA) was established by NASA, NOAA and Department of Defense (DoD) in 2001/2002. The goal of the JCSDA is to accelerate the use of observations from newly developed earth-orbiting satellites in operational environmental analysis and prediction models for the purpose of improving climate, weather, ocean and air quality forecasts and the accuracy of climate data sets. Advanced instruments of current and planned satellite missions will increasingly provide large volumes of data related to the atmospheric, oceanic, and land surface state. During this decade, this will result in a five order of magnitude increase in the volume of data available for use by the climate, weather and ocean community. These data will exhibit accuracies and spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions never before achieved.

In order to help ensure that the maximum benefit from investment in the space based global observing system is realized, the JCSDA is currently preparing to use these data, including data from NPOESS, NPP and GOES-R. A key part of the preparation is assimilation of the data from heritage instruments and preparation of the JCSDA Community Radiative Transfer Model (CRTM) for the NPOESS and GOES-R instruments. Data from the heritage instruments have been assimilated and used within NCEP, GMAO and NRL analysis and prediction systems as part of the groundwork for the use of the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS), the Hyperspectral Environmental Suite (HES), the Visible/Infrared Imager and Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) and other NPOESS and GOES-R instruments. Improved methods of extracting information from these data and their efficient use have been studied. In addition, radiative transfer models have been developed for several of the new instruments. These activities will allow the JCSDA partner organizations, who already assimilate data from more than 30 satellite instruments, to make early use of the data from NPOESS, NPP and GOES-R soon after they are launched.