NOAA's Joint Polar Satellite System's Proving Ground and Risk Reduction (PGRR) Program – Initiatives Making the Difference in NOAA Operations

This presentation will focus specific actions taken by NOAA Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Program's Proving Ground and Risk Reduction (PGRR) projects in response to real-world environmental events. In response to winter time river ice jams and the resulting flooding, the PGRR project teams have been able to tailor their algorithms to successfully identify over ice flooding roadside flooding. The Dalton Highway in northern Alaska was impacted by this type of flooding and the JPSS project was able to identify its extent, allowing decisionmakers to decide how to open the highway. 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. This team worked with the Alaska Fire Service to access SNPP satellite data during the record setting 2015 fire season. A third PGRR team is working the operational use of the NOAA Unique CrIS/ATMS Processing System (NUCAPS) product in weather forecast offices and in NOAA National Centers for Environmental Predication. These soundings were successfully evaluated in several major NOAA projects and forecasters throughout the National Weather Service are quickly putting the NUCAPS Soundings into daily operations. Information on additional initiatives will be provided.