The Alaska Direct Broadcast Quick Guides: Local Training to Meet Local Needs

The Geographic Information Network of Alaska (GINA) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) receives data from the Suomi National Polar Partnership (SNPP) satellite via direct broadcast antennas in Alaska. Data from the SNPP's Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) are then processed via the University of Wisconsin's Community Satellite Processing Package (CSPP), with the resulting imagery delivered to the National Weather Service (NWS) in Alaska in formats appropriate for display in the NWS' Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS).

GINA's capacity to receive and process direct broadcast data from SNPP and other polar orbiting weather satellites expanded in 2015 after the installation of a new antenna outside Fairbanks, Alaska. To accelerate the integration of these new products into NWS operations in Alaska, GINA developed a series of “quick guides” as references for NWS meteorologists. Each quick guide is a two-sided document that addresses a specific imagery product or technical aspect of the various satellites and their instruments, with an emphasis on the real-world application of these products in an Alaskan forecasting context. These quick guides are not intended to serve as, or replace, broader and more thorough training resources concerning satellite meteorology. Rather, the quick guides are intended to be handy supplemental references that can be consulted quickly during actual forecasting shifts worked by NWS meteorologists in Alaska. Examples of these quick guides will be presented, as well as a description of the lessons learned through this effort and plans for additional quick guides to be developed in the future.