This paper will foresee operational forecaster applications from two imagers from the National Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS): the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), and the recently-added Microwave Imager Sounder (MIS). VIIRS will fly on all NPOESS satellites and the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite to be launched in 2010. MIS will fly on three out of the four planned NPOESS satellites, starting in 2016. We will show examples that, to the extent possible, foresee the utility of new sensors to address fundamental operational and research challenges.

The design of the MIS is still being finalized. Thus, we do not know the accuracy of algorithm retrievals, but we know what products will be possible. Using products from existing heritage sensors, this paper will show examples such as sea surface temperature, soil moisture, sea surface wind vectors, total precipitable water, and imagery including images of tropical cyclone structure. An important predecessor to MIS is Coriolis WindSat, a Research and Development microwave imager built by the Naval Research Laboratory. Using case examples, we show that WindSat vectors successfully delineate topographically-induced wind regimes, including gap winds and sheltered regions. We will compare these examples to nearly coincident examples from the QuikScat Scatterometer and, when available, to forecast system output.

The VIIRS instrument will contain 22 channels and shares many of the capabilities of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS), but there are a number of differences. VIIRS will have a 3000 km swath vs. 2330 km for MODIS. Plus, we will discuss the much better scan geometry that will make VIIRS imagery more effective at the edge of scan. VIIRS will not have the midwave water vapor channels of MODIS, but will have a low-light visible channel, called the Day/Night Band (DNB) not contained by MODIS. The DNB will be considerably improved compared to the nighttime visible channel aboard the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites with many more display levels, decreased noise and artifacts, higher spatial resolution, and full integration into the VIIRS radiometer suite. Several simulations of VIIRS products will be shown.