Operational Environmental Satellites in the Era of Big Data: Progress Report for 2012 and Beyond

Satellite observations of the atmosphere on a global scale began 52¹ years ago. Since the late 1990s, operational use of the geostationary- and low Earth-orbiting environmental satellite data has increased rapidly, and a wide variety of advanced-capability environmental remote-sensing satellites have been deployed with many applications to weather forecasting, climate, hydrology, oceanography, land use and related applications.

Today, a significant portion of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) missions and programs are supported by satellite data. These activities support NOAA's mission to provide timely access to global environmental data to enhance the Nation's economy, security, and quality of life.

Environmental satellites have become an increasingly vital component of the global observing system for climate monitoring and weather prediction. The National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) operational environmental satellites contribute heavily to the National Weather Service's (NWS) National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), the central weather analysis and prediction facility for the United States.

In just a few years, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites - R Series (GOES-R) satellite will provide key enhancements and significant advances in observational capabilities for climate, oceans and coasts. The new GOES-R imager will also provide 3 times more spectral information². Processing and distribution of environmental data from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) mission and Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) will lead to improved daily weather forecasts and warnings but it will also deliver large data volumes.

This presentation covers current data management, access, archiving and retrieval of environmental satellite data. It also seeks to identify and quantify a number of current and expected satellite data volumes for numerical predictions; communicate the statistics for latency, product timeliness and accuracy; and provide information on expected near-real-time data processing improvements, security and research challenges.

¹ The world's first weather satellite, a polar-orbiting satellite, was launched from Cape Canaveral, FL, on April 1, 1960

² Goodman, S.J., Gurka, J., and coauthors, July, 2012, “The GOES-R Proving Ground, Accelerating User Readiness for the Next Generation Geostationary Environmental Satellite System”, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, p.1029-1040