Preparations for the GEOSS: Satellite-Based Algorithm Development Activities at NESDIS

The Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) is an international effort to benefit society by improving our ability to monitor, understand, and predict changes to the Earth/Ocean/Atmosphere system. The goal of GEOSS is to integrate and coordinate different observing systems so that the very best information is available to: a) protect society from environmental hazards, such as severe weather, poor air quality, forest fires, droughts, tsunamis, etc; b) predict future changes in weather and climate; and c) to describe and understand historical environmental change. An important component of implementing the GEOSS is the development of scientific algorithms to integrate observations. The NESDIS Office of Research and Applications and its partners are contributing to the vision of GEOSS in a number of current and future activities. These activities include the development of algorithms and tools to characterize and understand differences between different sensors, and the development of algorithms and processing systems to integrate imager and sounder observations from multiple sensors. A product generation system is currently being developed to integrate hyperspectral sounder and imagers on AQUA, NPOESS and METOP to produce improved atmospheric temperature and water vapor soundings, clouds, trace gases, and surface parameters. At the conference, an overview of our GEOSS-related activities and their connection to societal benefits will be presented. Included will be a discussion of a WMO-led concept for an operational global intercalibration system, which recognizes the need for satellite intercalibration as a key component for integrating observations from different sensors.