This product is being developed by The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) in Fort Collins, Colorado, together with the NOAA/NESDIS/STAR RAMM Branch.
For the Proving Ground the Super Rapid Scan Imagery will be displayed at NHC in NAWIPS and on the Web.
The SRSO sector from the current GOES satellite is 1388 x 2428 pixels ( approximately 1450 km x 1450 km).
The purpose of the product is two fold 1) to provide NHC forecasters with experience with high temporal resolution imagery of that will be available from GOES-R ABI, and 2) to test whether such imagery could be ingested via land lines and displayed using the current operational display software (NAWIPS). . This demonstration is conducted during the science test of GOES-15 during August-September of 2010 where continuous 1-minute SRSO data was available for three hurricane cases (Danielle, Earl, Igor).
The SRSO product demonstrates an image capability that will be possible in the GOES-R era. The product is currently based on GOES-15 because operational SRSO data is interrupted by operational scans. Continuous 1-minute imagery could only be properly demonstrated during the recent GOES-15 science test because operational scans are not required when GOES satellites are being tested.
Operational SRSO imagery is created by the operational GOES Satellites, but because of operational scan requirements only two 8-minute bursts of 1-minute imagery are created every hour. Continuous 1-minute SRSO however was one of the test products created during the GOES-15 science test.
NHC indicated an interest in super rapid scan operations (SRSO) data during a strong hurricane landfall to gain experience with the utility of the high time resolution observations from GOES-R. This will only be possible if the GOES-15 science test is coincident with the Atlantic hurricane season because hurricane landfalls automatically trigger rapid scan operations (RSO), which preclude SRSO. One landfalling (in Mexico) case (Igor) was collected during the GOES-15 science test. Two other Hurricane cases (Danielle and Earl) captured SRSO data for infrastructure testing at NHC during which time they were able to collect and display imagery in their NAWIPS.
The SRSO Imagery captures evolution of short lived convective features and captures development of new convective features. It also enables feature/cloud tracking near the eyewall. It’s limitations are that it cannot currently be called if TS/H Watch/Warnings are up, or if there is a moderate severe wx threat in the U.S and 1-minute temporal resolution is interrupted by other operational image scans.