1Kevin M. McGrath, 2Paul J. Meyer, 2Gary J. Jedlovec, 2Emily B. Berndt
1Jacobs Technology, ESSSA Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL
2NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL
A GOES-R series receiving station has been installed at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to help validate the new sensors on GOES-16 and to support transition-to-operations projects in the Science Research and Technology Office. This station is comprised of a 6.5-meter dish; motor-driven positioners; Quorum feed and demodulator; and three Linux workstations for ingest, processing, display, and subsequent product generation. The Community Satellite Processing Package (CSPP) is used to process GOES Rebroadcast data from the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI), Extreme Ultraviolet and X-ray Irradiance Sensors (EXIS), and Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS) into Level 1b and Level 2 files. These data become the source for the generation of additional products from the terrestrial and space weather sensors. A second receiving station is being acquired for GOES-S sensor validation and transition activities.
For ABI, single-channel imagery are generated in various formats (geoTIFF, netCDF3, and Area) using McIDAS-X 2017.1. Custom C-based programs have been written that combine ABI bands into multi-spectral Red-Green-Blue (RGB) Level 2 products including Air Mass, Nighttime Microphysics, Dust, and Daytime Convection. The single-channel and RGB products are distributed to end-users via multiple mechanisms. GeoTIFFs are ingested into an Esri Arc Enterprise Web Map Service (WMS) server with tiled imagery displayable through a web browser interface or by connecting directly to the WMS with a Geographic Information System software package. Various unique GLM products (such as 2-minute group density) are also integrated into the WMS. The receiving station also supports the Short-term Prediction, Research, and Transition Center’s (SPoRT) dissemination of real-time ABI RGB products to National Weather Service National Centers, including the Satellite Analysis Branch, National Hurricane Center, Ocean Prediction Center, and Weather Prediction Center, where they are displayed in N-AWIPS and AWIPS II. Additional real-time data users include the U.S. Coast Guard, Federal Aviation Administration, and The Weather Company.
ABI imagery also drive a basic web interface where users can manually zoom to and animate regions of interest or acquire similar results using a published Application Program Interface. While not as interactive as a WMS-driven interface, this system is much more expeditious with generating requested imagery. This legacy web capability enacted for the predecessor GOES Imager currently supports approximately 500,000 unique visitors each month. Similar capabilities are being developed for the space weather sensors to support in-house and external heliophysics research and transition activities. Possible integration of NASA-unique product generation code into CSPP would allow for timelier product generation.
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