Town Hall Meeting: Advances in OCONUS Satellite Applications Enabled by the Current and New Generation of Polar-orbiting and Geostationary Environmental Satellites
- Indicates paper has been withdrawn from meeting
- Indicates an Award WinnerThe current and new generation of operational polar-orbiting and geostationary environmental satellite systems (JPSS, GCOM-W, Metop, DMSP, GOES-R and Himawari) are being accompanied by new and improved user applications. Many of these improved applications are being made available to regions outside the conterminous United States (OCONUS) through direct broadcast (DB) technology and by other means. These user applications include tropical cyclone monitoring, volcanic ash tracking, river flood assessment, and low cloud and fog forecasting. These new user applications are anticipated to become critical tools for weather forecasters and environmental managers in regions with a scarcity of other data. The use of direct broadcast antennas offers the user many advantages such as reduced data latency, the ability to network with other DB sites to create wider regional coverage, and the ability to assimilate these data into forecast models to help generate locally-unique products. The Town Hall will convene a panel with broad expertise in satellite data applications and DB technology to discuss these new satellite applications, their current operational use, and the evaluation of their impact to the user communities in OCONUS regions.