The Naval Oceanography Program is both a user and a generator of satellite remote sensing data to provide operational oceanographic products in support of a variety of DoD mission needs in the present era. Starting in approximately 2010, with a pre-operational, precursor mission starting in 2007, the NPOESS polar-orbiting environmental satellite constellation will represent a key component in providing these operational oceanographic products for the next generation.

The Navy presently operates the GEOSAT Follow-On (GFO) and the Coriolis/WindSat satellites, along with providing operational products that rely on data provided by NOAA, NASA and foreign satellite systems. WindSat is a critical risk reduction satellite supporting NPOESS while GFO provides essential radar altimeter data used in ocean forecast models. The Navy has two primary production centers, the Naval Oceanographic Office, Stennis Space Center, MS and the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center, Monterey CA. At present both centers operationally assimilate satellite data. In the NPOESS/GOES-R era they will utilize such data to continue to provide numerous oceanographic and meteorological products to support and optimize naval missions and to ensure safe maritime operations.

This presentation will outline the activities and interests of the Naval Oceanography Program with respect to the NPOESS Ocean Mission; specifically, how the Navy is currently using satellite data to provide real time oceanographic products to its user community and linking these current efforts to the Navy's planned use of NPOESS. The NPOESS enabling capabilities, very low data and data product latencies to its users and extremely high data availability, will be discussed in the quasi-real-time environment of operationally systems. Furthermore, NPOESS data products, such as Sea Surface Height, Sea Surface Temperature and Sea Surface Wind Vectors will be discussed in the context of longer term, critical components for ocean analyses and improved prediction capabilities.