JPSS Products, Applications, and Training

The Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) is a new generation polar-orbiting operational environmental satellite system that will monitor the weather and environment around the globe. JPSS will provide technological and scientific improvements in environmental monitoring via high resolution satellite imagery and derived products that stand to improve weather forecasting capabilities for National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters and complement operational Geostationary satellites. JPSS will consist of four satellites, JPSS-1 through JPSS-4, where JPSS-1 is due to launch in Fall 2017. A predecessor, prototype and operational risk-reduction for the upcoming JPSS satellite series is the Suomi-National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite, that is currently in-orbit. Instruments on-board Suomi-NPP will also be on JPSS-1, which are as follows: Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS), Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS), Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) and the Clouds and Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES). JPSS-1 instruments will provide satellite imagery, products and applications to users. Applications consist of detecting water and ice clouds, snow, sea surface temperatures, fog, fire, severe weather, vegetation health, aerosols, and sensing reflected lunar and emitted visible-wavelength light during the nighttime via Day/Night Band (DNB). Currently, there are only a few polar products that are operational for forecasters, however, more products will become viewable in the near future via Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System-II (AWIPS-II). AWIPS-II is a forecasting analysis software package that forecasters can use to analyze meteorological data. In complement to the polar products, corresponding training is in development, denoted as the Satellite Foundational Course for JPSS (SatFC-J). Training will benefit NWS forecasters to utilize satellite data in their forecasts and daily operations as they discover their operational value in the NWS forecast process. As JPSS-1 launch nears, training materials will be produced in the form of modules, videos, quick guides, fact sheets, and hands-on exercises.