Exciting uses of satellite data for daily weather discussions, classroom weather education, and science projects

These researchers have spent over 20 years developing conceptual models and algorithms that describe winter and tropical storms and heavy precipitation and flash floods. NESDIS is currently receiving real time global imagery from geostationary operational satellites. This means that life and property threatening phenomena ranging from hurricanes (and typhoons) to flash floods and volcanic eruptions should never go undetected around the world. In this presentation, water vapor, infrared and visible imagery will be used to describe the evolutionary characteristics of winter and tropical storms; a global perspective will be used. Examples will include signatures in the water vapor imagery that can sometimes control the movement and intensity of hurricanes and typhoons. Also, examples of global scale connections between the tropics and middle latitudes will be illustrated. These connections are often depicted as movements, surges, or plumes of water vapor; in turn plumes of water vapor are often associated with unstable air and prepare the environment for heavy precipitation and flash floods. On the synoptic scale, the water vapor imagery is especially useful for detecting jet streaks, vorticity centers and other features associated with upward vertical motion; lifting of moist, unstable air results in the production of clouds and precipitation. Whether or not heavy precipitation and flash floods will occur are generally determined on the mesoscale to storm scale. On the mesoscale, infrared and visible data are used to locate boundaries (both frontal and thunder storm produced) and short waves that may initiate, focus and maintain the heavy precipitation. Terrain features such as orographic uplift have the same effect of anchoring, intensifying, and prolonging the precipitation. On the storm scale, the intensity, movement, and propagation of the precipitation system (e.g., thunderstorms, hurricanes, and winter storms) is used to determine how much, when, and where the heavy rain fall will occur during the next three hours (called NOWCASTING). High resolution infrared and visible data are principal data sets used in describing and understanding the above features. Additional information on moisture transport and soil (surface) wetness is available from polar operational satellites (NOAA 15 (Advanced Microwave Sensing Unit (AMSU) and Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) (Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I)). Many of the phenomena mentioned above (water vapor/transport, upward vertical motion, precipitation, and soil wetness) describe the hydrologic cycle. These phenomena form the basis of simple techniques for predicting precipitation amounts (Quantitative precipitation Forecasts (QPF)), especially for flash floods ---- if time permits, a QPF technique will be presented as a potential classroom activity and science project. The presentation will conclude with exciting uses of satellite data for detecting volcanoes, fires, and sea surface temperatures (El Nino signatures, Gulf Stream Analysis, effects on cloud development and dissipation). Since the internet is available in many schools, "key" Home Pages will be illustrated as a mechanism for use in daily weather discussions, classroom weather education (outstanding examples of various weather or weather related phenomena), and science projects. The presentation will be done via Power Point. CD's are being developed emphasizing the above material for educating students and teachers from the elementary (4th grades and higher) school level to high school. Some CD's will be available for the participants.