NOAA's Joint Polar Satellite System's Proving Ground and Risk Reduction (PGRR) Program – New Initiatives in Response to Changing User Needs!

This presentation will focus on instances where NOAA Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Program's Proving Ground and Risk Reduction (PGRR) projects responded to support real-world environmental events. In response to river ice jams and the resulting flooding, two PGRR projects refocused their efforts to provide SNPP product applications that were invaluable to the NWS forecasters' ability to support Spring flooding along Alaska's Yukon River and the Red River in North Dakota in 2014. A PGRR project team was established to work with NOAA and Forest Service decision makers to evaluate SNPP capabilities to improve the identification of active fires and the observation and forecast of smoke from these fires. A third PGRR team is working on the operational access to SNPP data in the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Predications to ensure data and products are quickly available for use in response to developing severe storms. All these initiatives are actively supported by NOAA users to ensure new capabilities are effectively