The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration deploys a fleet of civilian, polar orbiting environmental satellites which provide users and researchers with a complete suite of operational, atmospheric and environmental data. On May 13, 1998, the first in a series of Advanced TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (ATOVS) instrument configurations was successfully deployed into an evening (1930 LST, ascending) orbit onboard NOAA-15. This was followed by NOAA-16, an afternoon (1330 LST, ascending) satellite deployed in October, 2000, and NOAA-17, a late afternoon (1630 LST, ascending) satellite deployed in June , 2002. The ATOVS instrument configuration consists of the 15-channel Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A (AMSU-A), the 5-channel AMSU-B, the 20-channel High-resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS/3), and the 5-channel Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR).

The following report summarizes the current status of the ATOVS scientific algorithms and operational sounding products. Topics include the availability and importance of ground truth (radiosonde) observations concurrent with each satellite in product processing, derived products validation, and the information content of products in the context of subsequent user applications (ie, numerical weather prediction). The report concludes with future plans, designed to better meet the expanding user requirements.