Employing Short Courses to Prepare for the GOES-R Satellite Series

The next generation of geostationary environmental/weather satellites has been developed with much improved capabilities over the previous series. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) series continues with GOES-R, slated for launch in 2016. GOES-R will carry a new instrument, the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), and there are 11 new channels on the 16 channel Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) with substantially improved spatial and temporal resolutions. There are many current and planned applications and products of GOES data that are beneficial to the public. Satellite data are used in the forecasting, monitoring, and analysis of many phenomena that engage the public including severe weather, hurricanes, wild fires, floods, volcanic eruptions, daily weather forecasts, and even auroras. These forecasts impact people on a daily basis and are used in a wide variety of industries including shipping, energy, and agriculture. The launch of a new satellite system creates an opportunity to educate and provide outreach beyond our usual audiences.

In a broad effort to make satellite meteorology science more accessible, scientists at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have teamed with teachers, broadcasters, and others to generate materials suitable for a wide variety of educational needs. Several web applications (or webapps) have been developed to highlight various concepts and these are provided free to the public for hands-on training. The scientists at CIMSS have presented material at the Satellites & Education Conference, as well as hands-on training at an American Meteorological Society (AMS) short course at a Conference on Broadcast Meteorology, and will participate in a short course immediately preceding the 2016 AMS Annual Meeting. The content and presentation of the webapps can be tailored to suit the audience. In this presentation, the webapps will be highlighted, along with lessons learned from previous experience with short course presentation.