The 2012 HPC/OPC/SAB/TAFB Proving Ground Activities

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R-series (GOES-R) Proving Ground (PG) Program was organized to demonstrate the next generation geostationary satellite products and capabilities that will be incorporated into NOAA operations. GOES-R will provide significant advancements in observing capabilities with an Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), space weather instrumentation, and a new Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM). From October 2011 to December 2012, proxy GOES-R data and products were demonstrated for forecasters at the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC), the Ocean Prediction Center (OPC), the Satellite Analysis Branch (SAB) of the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch (TAFB). These pre-operational demonstrations allowed forecasters to use and evaluate proxy and simulated GOES-R data from research and operational satellite instruments (GOES, MODIS, AIRS, NPP, and SEVIRI), WRF model forecasts of ABI, and lightning networks in a quasi-operational environment (pseudo-GLM) to support their forecast and warning decision making. In evaluating these products, the forecasters were exposed to the strengths, limitations, and constraints of the new GOES-R capabilities prior to its launch and provided valuable feedback to the product developers. The product developers then had the opportunity to use these evaluations to modify or improve the products before they are incorporated into operations.

The GOES-R products that were demonstrated at HPC, OPC, SAB, and TAFB include the WRF-simulated ABI products (cloud and moisture imagery), the Overshooting Top Detection, Convective Initiation, and Lightning Detection. An additional decision aid product, the Red, Green, Blue (RGB) Air Mass product, was also demonstrated to forecasters during this time. In this presentation, we describe the initial results and lessons learned during these demonstrations.