Development, Application, and Transition to Operations of Aerosol and Trace Gas Products Derived from Next-Generation Satellite Observations

NASA SPoRT has a history of successfully transitioning unique observations and research capabilities to the operational weather community to improve short-term forecasts. SPoRT strives to bridge the gap between research and operations by maintaining interactive partnerships with end users to develop products that match specific forecast challenges, provide training, and assess the products in the operational environment. This presentation focuses on recent product development, application, and transition of aerosol and trace gas products to operations for specific forecasting applications. Recent activities relating to the SPoRT ozone products, aerosol optical depth composite product, sulfur dioxide, and aerosol index products are discussed. Over the past several years, SPoRT has worked closely with the GOES-R and JPSS Proving Grounds to transition ozone products derived from AIRS to National Centers, such as the Ocean Prediction Center and Weather Prediction Center, to aid forecasting explosive cyclogenesis and hurricane-force wind events. Since CrIS/ATMS retrievals processed through the NUCAPS algorithm are available near-realtime, the SPoRT ozone products were expanded include the CrIS/ATMS retrievals to provide additional overpasses for forecasters to analyze. Additionally, SPoRT developed an aerosol optical depth composite product derived from a combination of geostationary and polar-orbiting satellite observations, including S-NPP/JPSS VIIRS, to track the transport of aerosols across the Pacific Ocean. The aerosol optical depth composite product was used by forecasters to anticipate the presence of aerosols in the vicinity of atmospheric rivers during the NOAA-led CalWater 2 field campaign in 2015. More recently, SPoRT has worked closely with the GOES-R and JPSS Proving Grounds and forecasters at NOAA/NESDIS Satellite Analysis Branch to develop and transition S-NPP/JPSS OMPS sulfur dioxide and aerosol index products for monitoring fire, smoke, and volcanic activity. Product development and operational examples will be presented for each forecasting application. SPoRT is a proven community leader for transitioning satellite products and research capabilities to end users for unique forecasting applications.