Promoting GOES-R User Readiness in National Weather Service (NWS) Operations Using the Weather Event Simulator (WES-2 Bridge)

The Weather Event Simulator (WES) allows forecasters to view and playback weather cases significant to them in a familiar AWIPS-2 framework. Use of the WES allows forecasters to replay a recent significant weather event, with all data available to them as if it were in real time, and use it for practice should that event or similar situations arise in the future. The WES is an important training tool within the National Weather Service as it uses real life situations to train forecasters working on the desk. This tool will be important in facilitating operational readiness for GOES-R in the National Weather Service (NWS). With the launch of GOES-R, it is going to present forecasters with much more information from the satellite than they are used to having. GOES-R will provide valuable data to the field during operations than has ever been seen before. Some of the most valuable tools for severe weather operations are the faster temporal update times that could be as fast as 30 seconds in one mesoscale sector, to having much finer spatial resolution imagery in both the visible and infrared channels to be able to detect boundaries and finer details. The WES-2 Bridge will be an important piece in making sure that forecasters are operationally ready to use this data the minute it becomes available in their office. Various methods used to facilitate this user readiness from the Satellite Foundational Training Course for GOES-R are presented here, as well as how this will help in NWS operations in the future.