Regional and Mesoscale Meteorology Branch

A standardized hurricane aircraft flight track dataset using the NHC/HRD flight track files for the Atlantic and East Pacific basins from 1995-2004 has been completed. The purpose of this dataset is to supplement current product development and future satellite studies (GOES-R). This dataset was created using a modular text data processing system initially developed by R. DeMaria. This dataset is currently being verified and work continues on 2005-2012. (S. Longmore, J. Knaff)

Work continues on the enhanced windstorm prediction with GOES warning indicators. Currently analyzing 20 wind storm cases in the Wasatch Range in Utah for predictors.
(S. Longmore, D. Lindsey)

Preliminary verification has been completed for the HFIP experimental hybrid statistical-dynamical wind speed probability algorithm.  The algorithm began running in real-time at CIRA in Aug 2012 and was displayed on the HFIP experimental product page (http://www.hfip.org/products/).  Early verification results suggest that the experimental hybrid product did not perform as well (in terms of Brier score) as the operational wind speed probabilities in the Atlantic during the 2012 hurricane season.  More analysis is currently underway to understand why the hybrid algorithm was not as skillful as the operational wind speed probabilities during this Atlantic hurricane season.  (A. Schumacher, M. DeMaria)

Figure.  Brier scores for the operational wind speed probabilities (WSP) and hybrid WSP for Atlantic tropical cyclones from Aug-Nov 2012.  Brier scores for both 34-kt and 64-kt WSP are shown.

The experimental 48-hr Tropical Cyclone Formation Probability (TCFP) product is running in real-time at CIRA.  The 48-hr TCFP has been implemented on development systems at OSPO and is currently in its pre-operational testing phase.  This product is expected to be promoted to operations in late spring 2013 and will replace the NESDIS 24-hr TCFP.  The 48-hr forecast period of this new product will better fulfill the needs of the National Hurricane Center and Joint Typhoon Warning Center.  (A. Schumacher, M. DeMaria).

Figure.  The experimental 48-hr TCFP, running in real-time at CIRA/RAMMB.

D. Bikos is developing a product that incorporates satellite data and model wind information to forecast tropical cyclone recurvature.  The satellite data method is based on a technique by Dvorak (1995) which identifies the distance between the tropical cyclone center and a curved moisture boundary as seen in the GOES water vapor imagery.  An example illustrating this technique is depicted in Figure 1.  The contours are the gradient of brightness temperatures within a specified range from the water vapor imagery, while the yellow line illustrates the distance between the gradient associated with the curved moisture boundary and the storm center just before recurvature took place.  The model wind information is based on a technique by Hodanish and Gray (1993) which considers the mid- and upper-level zonal winds at a distance and direction relative to the tropical cyclone center.  Analysis of the mean u-component of the wind at mid-levels for 30 tropical cyclones has yielded encouraging results for thresholding wind values that relate to probability of recurvature (Fig. 2).

Fig. 1:  Tropical cyclone Fabian at 17:45 UTC 5 September 2003 just prior to recurvature.  The contours are the gradient of a specified range of brightness temperatures from the water vapor imagery, while the yellow line shows the distance between the gradient associated with the curved moisture boundary and the cyclone center.

Fig. 2.  350-500 mb u component of the wind (m s-1) averaged west,northwest, and north octants at 6 degrees from the tropical cyclone center between -24 and +12 hours from the time of recurvature.  Values of u are averaged from 30 tropical cyclones that recurved. 
(D. Bikos)

Eric Wendoloski, a NOAA Hollings Scholar from Millersville University in Pennsylvania, visited CIRA during the summer of 2012. During his nine week visit he performed a study of lightning activity and tropical cyclone formation. His results showed significant differences between lightning strikes around developing and non-developing tropical disturbances. During this quarter, work was done to assist Eric on the oral presentation submitted to the annual AMS meeting held in January 2013 in Austin, TX.  The title of the talk is “Lightning Observations and Tropical Cyclogenesis.”  M. DeMaria of RAMMB and J. Dostalek of CIRA are co-authors.  (J. Dostalek, M. DeMaria)

A database of total precipitable water (TPW) as measured from the AMSU (Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit) instrument is being created for Atlantic tropical cyclones from 1995 to the present.  The images coincide to the 6-hourly best track positions as determined by the National Hurricane Center.  The data will be used to develop a remotely-sensed estimate of tropical cyclone size by examining the radial gradient of TPW.  A similar dataset will also be created for East Pacific tropical cyclones.  An example image from Hurricane Isabel on September 11, 2003 at 1800 UTC is given below.  At this time it was located at 21.5°N and 54.8°W and was a Category-5 hurricane with 145 kt winds and a minimum central pressure of 915 mb. (J. Dostalek)

Figure 1.  Total precipitable water (TPW) observed from AMSU for Hurricane Isabel on September 11, 2003 at 1800 UTC.  The units of the TPW are mm and the x- and y-axes are labeled in km from the center of the storm.

As part of the CIRA Cal/Val project, microwave-based satellite retrievals, the associated GFS analyses, and dropsonde profiles are being collected and processed to be used in a validation study pertaining to the analysis of tropical cyclones.  To be compared are two retrieval schemes, the statistical technique which is currently being used in CIRA’s wind retrieval system, and the Microwave Integrated Retrieval System (MIRS), NESDIS operational microwave retrieval method.  Temperature (and moisture for MIRS) retrievals will be used in CIRA’s wind retrieval system, with the resultant winds being compared to collocated dropsondes.  It is expected that the MIRS retrievals will produce more accurate results, but if issues with the MIRS soundings arise, suggestions to the MIRS development team will be made to improve the retrieval system.  In addition, the two retrieval schemes will be used as input to programs that estimate maximum potential intensity (MPI) from a theoretical relationship derived by Kerry Emanuel and the vertical velocity profile of an air parcel from an entraining plume model.  The code is being written such that it may be used in a real-time as well as in a case study mode.  The coding for processing the statistical retrievals and for comparing them to collocated dropsondes is complete.  Figure 2 shows an example of a NOAA-15 AMSU MIRS retrieval of temperature and a collocated dropsonde released from the Gulfstream IV during Tropical Storm Isaac of 2012. (J. Dostalek)

Figure 2.  AMSU MIRS retrieval from NOAA-15 collocated with a dropsonde released from the Gulfstream IV aircraft during Tropical Storm Isaac.  The red line is the MIRS temperature profile and the blue line is the dropsonde temperature profile.  The time, latitude, and longitude are for the dropsonde.  The satellite profile was retrieved 30 minutes earlier and 24 km away.

Updated software was provided to Alison Krautkramer of the National Hurricane Center.  The program reads AMSU brightness temperatures stored in BUFR format.  The brightness temperatures stored in the files are used to generate vertical temperature profiles which are then used in the study of tropical cyclones. (J. Dostalek)

Significant progress has been made in improving the software developed to generate automated surface wind analyses that combine the satellite-based MTCSWA (Knaff et al. 2011) with real-time hurricane aircraft reconnaissance. The software was developed for the Joint Hurricane Testbed and the previous version of the software ran during the 2012 hurricane season.   Many issues with automated quality control, data weighting, and filter weights have been improved.  Analyses created for the last three seasons show that the method can create realistic analyses given the relatively sparse and variable aircraft data coverage.  Examples of small (Rina 2011), large (Sandy 2012) and poorly sampled (Danielle 2010) cases that occurred in the last few seasons are shown below.  A web page showing all the cases (2010-2012) is being prepared. (J. Knaff)

Caption:  Examples of a combined aircraft + satellite surface wind analyses, left panel, produced using operational data collected during 2010-2012.  Aircraft data, 6-hourly coverage shown in the right panel, comes from the HDOBS that are transmitted from the reconnaissance aircraft in real-time and include flight-level winds, and surface wind speed estimates from the stepped frequency microwave radiometer.   Satellite information is provided from the Multi-platform Tropical Cyclone Surface Wind Analysis (MTCSWA), which is now (as of Sept 2011) an operation product.

Using an objective IR-based method for estimating tropical cyclone size based on latitude and brightness temperatures, a global climatology was constructed (1978-2011).  There are several interesting results, one of which was the location of largest and smallest tropical cyclones (TCs) at the time of maximum intensity and the frequency distribution of TC size by basin.  Both results are shown below.   Findings suggest that small TCs tend to occur near the equator and in the eastern North Pacific whereas the large storms in the areas of increased interactions with the mid-latitudes.   The size distribution of the various basins suggest that the eastern North Pacific produces the smallest storms and the largest most intense TCs occur in the western North Pacific basins. More results will be presented at the upcoming AMS annual meeting.  A manuscript is being prepared for submission to the Journal of Climate in the New Year.  This study will be the starting point for discovering what factors lead to the variations in TC size, and growth as part of GOES-R risk reduction. (J. Knaff)

Caption:  Locations of the largest (red) and smallest (blue) 25% of TCs based according to R5.   TCs that reached minor hurricane intensity (63 to 95 knots) are show in the top panel and those that reached major hurricane intensity (> 95 knots) are shown in the bottom panel. 

Caption:  Frequency distributions of TC size (R5)  for the North Atlantic (a), eastern North Pacific (b), western North Pacific (c), North Indian Ocean (d) and Southern Hemisphere (e) tropical cyclone basins.  Blue, black, and red lines are associated with tropical storm, minor hurricane, and major hurricane intensities as indicated in the key (see text for additional information).  R5 is a scaling factor defined as the radius at which the TC projects 5 knots of tangential wind on the environment at 850 hPa.

Multi-platform Tropical Cyclone Surface Wind Analyses (MTCSWAs) were reanalyzed using the operational algorithm for the pre-operational cases collected at CIRA.  The resulting fixes were supplied to R. Danielson (NHC).    Dr. Danielson is a postdoctoral researcher working with/at NHC to develop new uses and assess the utility of scatterometer data.  (J. Knaff)

J. Knaff and S. Aberson (HRD) remotely presented on the progress of the HFIP Observation Team (Nov. 14, 2012). (J. Knaff)

Synthetic Imagery from the NAM Nest:  Synthetic Infrared satellite imagery produced from the 4-km NAM Nest model is now being created from each 00Z forecast cycle, and is being made available via the LDM to the NWS, as well as online.  This work is being supported by STAR end-of-year funds.  We received specific requests for this output from forecasters.  As can be seen in the loop linked above, the output is hourly out to 36 hours, then 3-hourly out to 60 hours, so it provides an attractive alternative to the NSSL WRF synthetic imagery (which stops at the 36 hour forecast) that is also being produced.  The image below shows a 25-hour forecast image, and the entire forecast period can be seen here: http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/templates/loop_directory.asp?data_folder=dev/lindsey/loops/namnest_13dec12&image_width=1020&image_height=720  Next, we plan to add additional spectral bands to the processing. (D. Lindsey, L. Grasso)

Figure.  Synthetic GOES-13 10.7 µm image based on a 25-hour forecast from the 4-km NAM Nest model from its 00Z forecast cycle on 13 Dec. 2012. 

Typhoon Bopha Captured by VIIRS: Super typhoon Bopha made landfall on the southern island of the Philippines this week, resulting a hundreds of fatalities and terrible destruction.  Shortly before coming on shore, VIIRS provide some incredible high resolution (375 m) Infrared imagery of the intense cyclone.  The image below is from I-Band 5 valid at 1709 UTC on 3 December.  (D. Lindsey)

Figure.  Super Typhoon Bopha as viewed from NPP/VIIRS 375-m I-Band 5 at 1709 UTC on 3 December as the storm approached the southeast coast of the Philippines. 

PCI Software Updated:  Principal Component Imagery (PCI) software originally delivered to the Satellite Analysis Branch (SAB) VAAC for use with GOES for volcanic ash detection is now being used with MTSAT imagery to track volcanic activities in the Mariana Islands region.  An updated version of the program was requested by Gilberto Vicente, and is being implemented by Jerry Guo.  (D. Hillger)

Green-band Software Delivered to CIMSS:  The software developed at CIRA to generate a synthetic Green band from the GOES-R Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) has been delivered to the ABI Proxy Data Team at CIMSS.  The code will be used with near-real-time proxy ABI imagery over CONUS created from WRF-Chem model forecasts and the CRTM.  The plan is to add true-color imagery to the product suite.  The Green-band code is needed to generate true-color imagery since ABI does not include a Green band directly among its spectral resources.  (D. Hillger)

The CIRA NPP VIIRS blog continues to be updated with interesting images that highlight the capabilities of VIIRS. Blog posts for this quarter have focused on snow detection, volcanic ash detection, eddies off the coast of Greenland and detecting the speed of aurora elements, some of which are highlighted in more depth elsewhere in this section. The post on detecting the speed of aurora elements has been converted into a manuscript and submitted to BAMS Nowcast. The blog may be found here: http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/projects/npp/blog/. (C. Seaman)

EUMETSAT has developed several RGB composites useful for discriminating snow from clouds, including the “Snow RGB,” “Daytime Microphysics RGB,” “Nighttime Microphysics/Fog RGB” and the “Natural Color RGB,” all developed for Meteosat-9. These RGB products have been applied and/or modified for use with VIIRS. 

Figure 1 shows an example of the “Natural Color RGB” for an image of the Alps. In this RGB composite, liquid clouds appear a dirty, off-white color while snow is cyan. This makes snow easy to distinguish from low clouds. For examples of the other RGB composites and how they compare with the operational EUMETSAT products, refer to the CIRA NPP VIIRS Blog: http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/projects/npp/blog/index.php/uncategorized/end-of-autumn-in-the-alps/ (C. Seaman)

Figure 1:  False-color RGB composite of VIIRS channels I-3 (red), I-2 (green) and I-1 (blue), taken 12:29 UTC 14 November 2012.
On 30 October 2012, strong winds picked up ash left over from the 1912 eruption of Novarupta in Alaska. This 100-year-old ash plume diverted aircraft and forced residents of Kodiak, Alaska indoors. VIIRS captured images of this ash plume and the PCI (Principal Component Imagery) split window analysis technique easily detected the ash (Figure 2). Several RGB composites were applied to VIIRS imagery for this case, and had less success detecting the ash. For more information, refer to the CIRA NPP VIIRS Blog:  http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/projects/npp/blog/index.php/uncategorized/the-case-of-the-100-year-old-ash-cloud/ (C. Seaman, D. Hillger)

Figure 2. The PCI split-window analysis technique applied to VIIRS for the image taken 22:23 UTC 30 October 2012. The arrows indicate source regions of volcanic ash plumes.

The Day/Night Band has the ability to detect high-speed, short duration motions of the aurora never before captured by a meteorological satellite. Figure 3 shows an aurora over Antarctica captured on 00:22 UTC 1 October 2012. Zooming in on the aurora (Figure 3c), it has a “stair step” or “saw tooth” appearance, rather than appearing as a smooth curtain of light. These discontinuities are not apparent in surface objects visible in the moonlight (Figure 3b). This is due to the fact that the aurora was moving rapidly (2-3 km s-1), causing a displacement of the apparent position of the aurora between individual scans of the instrument (which occur ~1.79 seconds apart). The ability to determine the speed of auroras from Day/Night Band images is described in more detail on the CIRA NPP VIIRS Blog (http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/projects/npp/blog/index.php/uncategorized/aurora-australis-from-the-day-night-band/) and in a manuscript submitted to BAMS Nowcast.

Figure 3. VIIRS Day/Night Band images of the aurora australis over Antarctica, taken 00:22 UTC 1 October 2012. A) Broad view with latitude and longitude lines plotted. B) Zoomed in on the yellow box highlighted in A, focused on icebergs visible in the moonlight. C) Zoomed in on the red box highlighted in A, focused on an element of the aurora. The area of both insets (B and C) is 93 km x 122 km.  The blue bars in B and C represent a length of 6 km.

Auroras are caused by the interaction of the solar wind with the Earth’s magnetic field. Coronal mass ejections, which cause vivid auroras, also cause problems with electrical power grids, surface-based radio communications, low orbiting satellites, and increased radiation exposure at commercial aircraft altitudes. Aurora motions are related to fluctuations in the Earth’s magnetic field, which have been known to cause power outages and corrosion in metallic oil and gas pipelines. (C. Seaman, S. Miller)

CIRA GOES-R Proving Ground products continue to be used extensively by the National Weather Service.  In late November 2012, synthetic GOES-R ABI imagery from the NSSL WRF produced by CIRA was mentioned multiple times by the Boulder, CO, National Weather Service in their Area Forecast Discussions (AFDs).  Mountain wave clouds are a persistent forecast problem for the Colorado Front Range, and the synthetic imagery from the WRF typically does a very good job predicting these temperature-forecast-busting clouds.  An example from the 24 November morning AFD:  “WILL LIKELY KNOCK DOWN AROUND 5 DEGREES ALONG THE ADJACENT PLAINS AND ADD MORE CLOUDS FOR THE TODAY PERIOD. THE WRF SIMULATED SAT IMAGERY HAS WAVE CLOUDS LOCKED IN FROM MUCH OF TODAY BEFORE DISSIPATING LATER THIS EVENING.” The images below show the 22-hour forecast, along with the corresponding observed image.  (D. Lindsey)

Figure: Synthetic GOES-R ABI Band 13 (10.35 µm) image from the 24 Nov. 2012 NSSL WRF 22-hour forecast (left), and the corresponding observed GOES-15 Band 4 (10.7 µm) image valid at 22 UTC on 24 Nov. 2012 (right).  The WRF forecast imagery does a good job predicting the thick mountain wave cloud over the Colorado Front Range. 

A few years ago, I gave a few presentations at the Great Divide Workshop. Due to fiscal shortfalls, the workshop was nearly cancelled this year. Organizers decided to make the workshop virtual by taking advantage of webinar capabilities. I was asked by Dan Borsum and Robyn Heffernan to give a one hour presentation about our AWG synthetic fire imagery project. As a result, I gave a one hour presentation on 3 October 2012 entitled, “Synthetic GOES-R Imagery of Canopy Wildfires and Agricultural Burning.” (L. Grasso, D. Hillger, R. Brummer, R. DeMaria)

Synthetic GOES-13 10.7 µm imagery has been produced from a WRF-ARW real-time simulation. This model is being run by Prof. Russ Schumacher at the Dept. of Atmospheric Science. An example image is show in Figure 1. (L. Grasso, D. Lindsey)

Figure 1: Synthetic GOES-13 10.7 µm image from a wrf-arw simulation of a convective event that occurred on 27 June 2012 at 0000 UTC.

Synthetic GOES-13 µm 10.7 imagery has been produced from the operational 4 km nested NAM. A UW automated system has been set up on Badger, a NESDIS funded machine located at SSEC. This data is pulled, via ftp, to Badger where real-time imagery is generated. An example image is shown in Figure 2. (L. Grasso, D. Lindsey)

Figure 2: Synthetic GOES-13 10.7 µm image from the real-time 4 km nested NAM. (L. Grasso, D. Lindsey)       

B. Connell gave a presentation on the GOES and GOES-R and the characteristics of its channels to a Remote Sensing class at the Metropolitan State College of Denver on November 30.  Since the Remote Sensing class focuses mainly on earth resource topics, the students were presented with the perspective of how meteorologists view and use satellite imagery.  (B. Connell)

B. Connell ran a weekly after-school weather club on Tuesdays for Putnam Elementary (K-5) for 8 weeks during October through December 2012.  There was a 90 minute session each week.  Sessions covered rain, wind (speed and direction), clouds, temperature, and things that spin as well as measurements that are associated with these weather occurrences.  Putnam has a coordinator who is responsible for matching students with clubs, assigning classrooms, providing snacks, and providing transportation – which is great! (B. Connell)

D. Lindsey talked to the second graders at Dunn Elementary School in Fort Collins about weather and related topics. (D. Lindsey)

Training metrics for the quarter:

•  Teletraining:

11 VISIT teletraining sessions have been delivered.  There were 16 teletraining signups, 54 students participated.

• Learning Management System (LMS) audio / video playback modules:    
  
  • Registrations:  242
  • Completions:  160

LMS totals from January 2005 through December 31, 2012:

Registrations:  6296
Completions: 4104

Definitions used in LMS metrics:

Registrations:  The number of students who either clicked on the course, or actually took the course, but did not complete the quiz or achieve a passing grade upon taking the quiz.  A student may have registered for multiple courses.
Completions:  The number of students that achieved a passing grade on a quiz for a course.  A student may have completed multiple courses this way.

New training that debuted this quarter:

• AWIPS Blended Rain Rate Product (by Ross Van Til, FDTB)

New training forum:

• VISIT Satellite Chat – Virtual interactive training sessions that are intended to:

            a) be brief, target length of 30 minutes.
b) demonstrate satellite products that can be applied to operational forecasting.
c) exchange ideas across both operational and academic sides.
d) identify new training topics based on specific participant needs.
e) incorporate seasonal examples that are timely, and use real-time data (where applicable).

As of December 31, 2012, there have been 10 VISIT Satellite Chat sessions for a total of 37 NWS forecast office signups.  We started in February 2012 with one morning chat session and in September went to two chat sessions: one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  This allowed for more flexibility in participation from NWS offices, as well as other researchers and trainers.

• At the December session, the Columbia, SC NWS WFO asked about a recent fog event.  We analyzed the event and put together a blog entry:

http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/training/visit/blog/index.php/2012/12/12/december-3-2012-fog-event-in-south-carolina/
The response was positive: “Wow!!! This is really great!!  I will pass this on to my staff and make this blog entry part of our local case study for that event.”  This kind of interaction between WFO’s and VISIT staff highlights one of the key objectives to these monthly VISIT satellite chat sessions.

Recorded versions of past satellite chat sessions are available here:
http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/training/visit/satellite_chat/

Ongoing development of new VISIT training sessions:

• Utilizing Synthetic Imagery from the NSSL 4-km WRF-ARW model in temperature forecasting related to sky cover.
• Orographic Rain Index (ORI)

VISIT web-page traffic:

• The following is a summary of VISIT web-page traffic for the quarter (from Google Analytics), there were 3109 pageviews for the quarter:

Collaboration:

D. Bikos will be collaborating with many different training offices (including COMET) and local, regional and national operational offices of the National Weather Service. 

VISIT Meteorological Interpretation Blog – (http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/training/visit/blog/) – Continue to build and administer the VISIT Blog – a web-log program intended to initiate increased communication between the operational, academic, and training communities.  The blog averages about 300 pageviews per month (844 this quarter).

The following table shows a breakdown of the metrics for each VISIT teletraining session valid April 1999 – December 31, 2012.  The participant count is collected after each teletraining session, the student is mailed a certificate of completion if they reply to an evaluation email with names.  For a complete list and description of each VISIT session see this web-page.

Meetings and Calls

E. Szoke and D. Bikos attended the National Weather Association (NWA) conference in Madison, WI held October 8-11.  They had poster presentations on recent VISIT training and GOES-R Proving Ground activities at CIRA respectively.  

NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition Center (SPoRT) scientists Gary Jedlovec, Kevin Fuell and Matt Smith visited CIRA on Oct. 30-Nov. 1 to discuss collaborations in the Satellite Proving Ground.  We took the opportunity to meet with Kevin Fuell and discuss training interactions for the VISIT Satellite Chat and inclusion of training materials for the new SHyMet GOES-R course.

Liz Page from the COMET Program visited CIRA on 25 October and we discussed many aspects of our training programs and ways we can interact.  We touched on GOES-R Proving Ground projects and training directed towards national and international training for aviation interests.  Liz was visiting CIRA and the CSU Atmospheric Sciences Department for the day and gave a seminar on “The COMET Program’s Support of University Education.”

VISIT/SHyMet had conference calls on October 26 and December 7.

A member of the VISIT/SHyMet team from CIRA participated in the COMET monthly satellite training calls. (D. Bikos, E. Szoke)

1. Preparations for proposed SHyMet course:  GOES-R Instruments and Products

A preliminary organizational call was held between the SHyMet teams at CIRA and CIMSS 19 November to discuss how the course should be structured and executed, what in-house training modules were candidates for the new course, and how do we decide which external training modules to include in the course.  A second call was held on 30 November and invited Satellite Champions, COMET, SPoRT, and other researchers to provide input on training that they have that would be relevant for the new SHyMet course.

Course structure:  A customized / personalized training experience with training needs assessed during signup.

Course execution:  Assign the individual modules at the time of registration.  The web-pages will group the various topics but we will ask the student at the time of registration their training needs, then determine which modules to assign.

Current list of in-house modules (containing 70% or more GOES-R PG product content):

• Introduction to GOES-R (abbreviated version of GOES-R 101)
• Forecaster Training for the GOES-R Fog/low stratus (FLS) Products.
• Synthetic Imagery in Forecasting Cyclogenesis.
• Synthetic Imagery in Forecasting Low Clouds and Fog.
• Objective Satellite-Based Overshooting Top and Enhanced-V Anvil Thermal Couplet Signature Detection.
• Synthetic Imagery in Forecasting Severe Weather.
• Synthetic Imagery in Forecasting Orographic Cirrus.
• The UW NearCasting Product.
• Convective Cloud-top Cooling and UW Convective Initiation.

Potential External Modules:

A. GOES-R Satellite Liaisons (Amanda Terborg, Michael Folmer, and Chad Gravelle):

• Cloud Top Cooling
• RGB air mass / dust product
• CIMSS ABI WES case content
• Fog / low stratus (already included above)

B. COMET (Patrick Dills and Wendy Abshire)

• GOES-R Benefits of next generation monitoring (multiple parts).
• ABI module (early 2013 release).
• Companion module for GLM (future release).

Potential reference material containing less than 70% GOES-R content:
RGB products explained, Atmospheric dust, Forecasting dust storms, Volcanic ash observation tools and dispersion models, GOES channel selection (version 2), GOES channel selection (version 2),  Satellite monitoring of atmospheric composition, and Multispectral applications: monitoring the wildland fire cycle.

We will need introductory modules to briefly give an overview of how GOES-R preparations got to where they are now. We will include why there might be more than one product, as well as what to expect before and after launch.

2. The following 4 courses continue to be administered:

1. SHyMet Severe Thunderstorm Forecasting.  Released March 2011. Consists of 7 core courses and 4 optional courses: http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/training/shymet/severe_topics.asp

      Core courses:

• Mesoscale Analysis of Convective Weather Using RSO Imagery.
• Use of GOES RSO Imagery with other Remote Sensor Data for Diagnosing Severe Weather across the CONUS.
• GOES Imagery for Forecasting and Nowcasting Severe Weather.
• Water Vapor Imagery Analysis for Severe Weather Forecasting.
• Synthetic Imagery in Forecasting Severe Weather.
• Predicting Supercell Motion in Operations.
• Objective Satellite-Based Overshooting Top and Enhanced-V Anvil Thermal Couplet Signature Detection.

Optional courses:

• Monitoring Gulf Moisture Return.
• The UW Convective Initiation Product.
• Coastal Severe Convective Weather.
• Topographically Induced Convergence Zones and Severe Convective Weather.

2. Tropical SHyMet.  Released August 2010.
Consists of 7 courses:  http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/training/shymet/tropical_intro.asp

• Basic Satellite Interpretation in the Tropics.
• Ensemble Tropical Rainfall Potential (eTRaP)
• An Overview of Tropical Cyclone Track Guidance Models used by NHC
• An Overview of Tropical Cyclone Intensity Guidance Models used by NHC
• Satellite Applications for Tropical Cyclones : Dvorak Technique
• ASCAT Winds
• AWIPS OB9 Blended TPW Products

3. SHyMet For Forecasters Learning Plan:  Released January 2010.  It consists of 6 core courses and 3 optional courses.
http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/training/shymet/forecaster_intro.asp :

This Development Plan includes:

1. Introduction to remote sensing for hydrology (NWS FDTB)
2. Interpreting Satellite Signatures (CIMSS)
3. Satellite Applications for Tropical Cyclones: Dvorak Technique (RAMMB/CIRA)
4. Aviation Hazards (CIRA)
5. Water vapor channels (CIMSS)
6. GOES-R 101 (CIRA)

Optional modules

7. Regional Satellite Cloud Composites from GOES (CIRA)
8. Volcanic Ash Hazards (Part 1)  (CIRA)
9. Volcanic Ash Hazards (Part 2) (CIRA)

4. SHyMet Intern Learning Plan: Released April 2006
The SHyMet Intern course consists of 9 modules.
(http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/training/shymet/intern_intro.asp ). 

Metrics for the 4 SHyMet courses:

3. International training that builds on efforts of the VISIT and SHyMet Programs, and enhances communication and exchange of information with international training partners:

B. Connell adapted content from the GOES-R 101 in the SHyMet Forecaster course and presented a virtual session for a Caribbean audience on 6 December.  :  Kathy-Ann Caesar from the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) in Barbados is conducting a Distance Learning Course on Aeronautical Meteorology Continuing Professional Development.  The course was designed to address the World Meteorological Organizations Aeronautical Meteorological Personnel Competence Standards.  This presentation was given during the Unit focusing on Satellite Interpretation in the Tropics.  The existing VISIT and SHyMet modules: Basic Satellite Interpretation in the Tropics and Volcanoes and Volcanic Ash Part 1 were also used in the course.

B. Connell attended the Sixth Meeting of the WMO Virtual Laboratory for Education and Satellite Meteorology (VLab) Management Group in Brazil on 8-11 October.  There were 27 participants representing Training Centers of Excellence from Australia, Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Kenya, Niger, Oman, Russian Federation, South Africa, Morocco and satellite operators from Europe, US, Russian Federation, Japan, and remotely from Europe and Korea.  Topics that the US supports as well as benefits in exchanging information about include Regional Focus Groups (similar to the VISIT Satellite chat), Event weeks (for example training focused Precipitation), forecaster competencies, and exercises on assessing if we are doing a good job in our training activities.  (D. Bikos, B. Connell, E. Szoke)

Monthly International Weather Briefings

The WMO Virtual Laboratory Regional Focus Group of the Americas and Caribbean conducted 3 monthly English and Spanish weather briefings (17 October, 7 November, and 19 December 2012) through VISITview using GOES and POES satellite Imagery from CIRA (http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/training/rmtc/focusgroup.asp ).   We used GoToWebinar for voice over the Internet.  There were participants from the U.S.: CIRA, the International Desk at NCEP, NWS Training Division, UCAR/NWS/International Affairs, CIMSS/SSEC at AWC, as well as outside the continental U.S.: Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherland Antilles Panamá, Suriname, Switzerland, and Uruguay.  The participants include researchers and students as well as forecasters and other trainers.  All sessions were well attended as represented by 12, 17, and 8 countries reaching 60, 79, and 17 participants respectively for October, November, and December.  During the October session, we were joined by a group of 12 attending a Precipitation Workshop and training in Brazil.  During the November session, we were joined (unexpectedly) by a group of 20 participants attending a training in Mexico and 17 participants attending a training in Honduras.   Mike Davison at NCEP International Desk led the discussions.  Typically, the sessions include a look at Water Vapor imagery for a synoptic overview of Central America and the Caribbean as well as for South America.  The IR 10.7 um imagery and Visible imagery are used to look more closely at weather features.  We look at MJO patterns and the outlook, Total Precipitable Water (TPW) patterns, Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and anomalies.  Imagery from a recent weather feature is often highlighted.    Participants provided comments and questions related to the local weather in their regions.  Recordings of the session can be found here:  http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/training/rmtc/fg_recording.asp

During the last three months, Barbados has also been conducting monthly briefings for the Eastern Caribbean to introduce forecasters in training to the operational forecasters from the region.  CIRA has been assisting with the logistics of the sessions and providing imagery through the rammb server listed above. (B. Connell)

Sharing of Imagery and Products
Imagery for Central and South America and the Caribbean can now be viewed at one location through RAMSDIS Online – look for the 4-week archive feature:  (http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/ramsdis/online/rmtc.asp). 
Look for information on our activities on the VLab/ Regional Training Center web page. http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/training/rmtc/

GEONETCast Americas VLab Training Channel established 
CIRA, in collaboration with Paul Seymour of NOAA’s Direct Readout Service, has initiated and started sending training materials through a GEONETCast Americas channel called “VLab Training.”  In October and November, 3 video segments from the Focus group recordings were transmitted through the VLab Training channel.  We will continue to do this on a monthly basis and start evaluating what other training can be sent through GEONETCast.  (B. Connell, D. Watson, K. Micke)

The accompanying center half of a VIIRS I-band granule over SE Australia includes the city of Melbourne, the Bass Strait, and the northern part of the island of Tasmania.  Natural-color imagery production was already in place for the equivalent VIIRS M bands, but is now available for the VIIRS I bands (I3/I2/I1).  These images are available online under the Suomi NPP VIIRS imagery category, which can be found at http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/ramsdis/online/npp_viirs.asp.  This product is an addition to the other VIIRS image products already available online.  Spatial resolution for this I-band product is currently reduced to that of the M-band (750 m) products.  (D. Hillger)

Figure 1a: VIIRS I-band natural-color (RGB) image combination created from VIIRS band I3 (Red), band I2 (Green), and band I1 (Blue).  This image from 28 November at ~0416 UTC over SE Australia covers Melbourne, the Bass Strait, and the northern part of the island of Tasmania.  In natural-color imagery vegetated areas are green, low/water clouds are white, and high/ice clouds are cyan.

Figure 1b: The location of the granule in Figure 1a, as projected onto a Mollweide map of the globe.  These remapped images are available for each granule, to help earth-locate what otherwise might not be obvious from single granule images.

VIIRS True-Color Imagery Now Available Online:  The accompanying image over the Strait of Hormuz is an example of a VIIRS M-band true-color RGB image combination.  Such images are now available online under the Suomi NPP VIIRS imagery category, which can be found at http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/ramsdis/online/npp_viirs.asp.  This product is an addition to the other image products already available online, including the recently-added “natural-color” imagery product mentioned in last week’s report. (D. Hillger)

Figure 1: VIIRS M-band true-color RGB image combination created from VIIRS band M5 (Red), band M4 (Green), and band M3 (Blue).  This area is highly non-vegetated and therefore very brown in this image from 14 November 2012 at ~0901 UTC.  Rayleigh correction has not been applied to the true-color images at this point.  Note the dust blowing off the land and into the Gulf of Oman in the lower right corner of the image.

VIIRS Natural-Color Imagery Now Available Online:  The accompanying image over the Canadian Rockies between Alberta and British Columbia is an example of a VIIRS M-band “natural-color” RGB image combination.  Such images are now available online under the Suomi NPP VIIRS imagery category, which can be found at http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/ramsdis/online/npp_viirs.asp. VIIRS image processing is done in McIDAS-X and images are displayed using RAMSDIS Online, a long-standing mechanism for displaying many different satellite image products.  (D. Hillger)

Figure 1: VIIRS M-band “natural-color” RGB image combination created from VIIRS band M10 (Red component), band M7 (Green component), and band M5 (Blue component).  Vegetated areas are green, water clouds are white, and snow-covered areas in the mountains and plains are cyan in this image from 5 November 2012 at ~2028 UTC.

VIIRS Image combinations:  The accompanying VIIRS I-band image is a false-color RGB image combination of the southern tip of India and most of the island nation of Sri Lanka.  This image was created in McIDAS-X and shows image manipulation capabilities that are being used to assess VIIRS image quality.  Further work on image differencing is also underway.  These image combinations and differences are helpful in weeding out image problems, which are not nearly as obvious in single-band images but may only appear in image products.  (D. Hillger)

Figure 1: VIIRS I-band false-color RGB image combination created from VIIRS band I3 (Red component), band I2 (Green component), and band I1 (Blue component).  Vegetated areas are green, water clouds are white, and ice clouds are cyan.

Traffic to the RAMMB web site continues to increase each year, with much of the traffic concentrated on several of our real-time data sites. All the following data are from December 1, 2011 to November 30, 2012, the “official” end of the Atlantic hurricane season. During that time, the site received over 4.6 million page views from over 400,000 individual visitors (see Figure 1). The main thing that stands out in this data is the incredible traffic spike our site experienced leading up to and during the landfall of Hurricane Sandy. (K. Micke)

Figure 1: Detailed statistics for the entire RAMMB site from Dec 1, 2010 – Nov 30, 2011.

Detailed statistics for the entire RAMMB site (same as Figure 1, with definitions added for clarity):
Visits (total number of visits to the site): 1,128,835
Unique Visitors (total number of unique visitors to the site): 411,108
Pageviews (total number of pages viewed on the site): 4,668,488
Pages per Visit (average number of pages viewed per visit): 4.14
Average Time on Site (average time on site for each visitor): 00:03:14
Bounce Rate (percent of single-page visits): 12.55%
New Visitors (percent of total visitors who visited the site for the first time): 35.45%

The most popular section of the site continues to be RAMSDIS Online (http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/ramsdis/online/), which shows satellite data products for various parts of the world. The most popular part of this site was the RMTC page that serves data for Central and South America (http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/ramsdis/online/rmtc.asp). This single page accounted for 11.49% of the pageviews for the entire server this past year.  (K. Micke)

The Tropical Cyclone Real-time site (http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/products/tc_realtime/) accounts for about 25% of the server traffic throughout the year, and gets significant spikes in traffic surrounding any tropical cyclone activity around the world. When viewed by country, the most traffic for this site continues to come from Hong Kong, followed by the US (see Figure 2). (K. Micke)

Figure 2: Detailed statistics on user location for the TC Real-time site from Dec 1, 2010 – Nov 30, 2011.

After reaching new all-time traffic records for a single day multiple times in 2012, the landfall of Hurricane Sandy easily broke all of the previous records. Multiple major sites, including npr.org and reddit.com, linked to our site where we had a loop of real-time SRSO visible imagery for the storm as it made landfall. This led to 73,654 visits and 192,416 pageviews in a single day (see Figure 3), and because of the high resolution nature of the data, stretched the bandwidth of our server room to near capacity. (K. Micke)

Figure 3: Closer look at traffic spike related to the landfall of Hurricane Sandy. Data is from Oct 24, 2012 – Oct 31, 2012.

• New hardware has been procured and configured to upgrade 6 outdated user workstations.
• New hardware has been procured and configured to upgrade the AWIPS WES workstation.
• New hardware has been procured to upgrade the AWIPS AWIPS1 workstation.
• New hardware has been procured to upgrade all RAMSDIS workstations. (D. Molenar)

Published:

• Refereed

Lin, I-I, G.J. Goni, J.A. Knaff, C. Forbes, M.M. Ali, 2012: Tropical Cyclone Heat Potential for Tropical Cyclone Intensity Forecasting and Its Impact on Storm Surge.  Journal of Natural Hazards. 1-20, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11069-012-0214-5

Lindsey, D.T., T.J. Schmit, W.M. MacKenzie, Jr., C. P. Jewett, M.M. Gunshor, L.D. Grasso, 2012: 10.35 µm: atmospheric window on the GOES-R Advanced Baseline Imager with less moisture attenuation Journal of Applied Remote Sensing, 6:1, 12 pp. doi: 10.1117/1.JRS.6.063598

Sitkowski, M., J.P. Kossin, C.M. Rozoff, and J.A. Knaff, 2012: Hurricane eyewall replacement cycle thermodynamics and the relict inner eyewall circulation. Mon. Wea. Rev., 140, 4035–4045. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-11-00349.1

• Nonrefereed

Apodaca, K., M. Zupanski, M. Zhang, M. DeMaria, J.A. Knaff, G. DeMaria, and L.D. Grasso, 2013: Evaluating the potential impact of assimilating satellite lightning data utilizing hybrid variational ensemble methods, Ninth Annual Symposium on Future Operational Environmental Satellite Systems, 6-10 January, Austin, TX.

DeMaria, M., K.D. Musgrave, R. Gall, F. Toepfer, 2013: Statistical Post-Processing Techniques to Improve Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project (HFIP) Model Guidance. Symposium on the Role of Statistical Methods in Weather and Climate Prediction. 6-10 January, Austin, TX.

Gurka, J.J., S.J. Goodman, T.J. Schmit, M. DeMaria, A. Mostek, B.C. Motta, C.W. Siewert, B. Reed, and M.J. Folmer, 2013: The GOES-R Proving Ground: Results from the 2012 Demonstrations and Future Plans, Ninth Annual Symposium on Future Operational Environmental Satellite Systems, 6-10 January, Austin, TX.

Hillger, D.W., T. Thomas Kopp, S.D. Miller, D.T. Lindsey, C. Seaman, 2013: Suomi NPP VIIRS  Imagery after 1 Year. Ninth Annual Symposium on Future Operational Environmental Satellite Systems, 6-10 January, Austin, TX.

Hillger, D., G. Toth, and S. Bette, 2012: Telstar: A philatelic history, The American Philatelist, 126:10, 924-931.

Knaff, J.A., M. DeMaria, S. Longmore, C. Sampson, 2013: Examination of Global Satellite-Based Tropical Cyclone Size Variations. 20th Conference on Applied Climatology, 6-10 January, Austin, TX.

Longmore, S., J.A Knaff, M. DeMaria, 2013: A Pseudo Object Oriented netCDF Application Interface Layer to “Simplify” Access to Satellite and Future Atmospheric Datasets. 29th Conference on Environmental Information Processing Technologies (formerly IIPS), 6-10 January, Austin, TX.

Schumacher, A.B., M. DeMaria, R. Berg, E. Gibney, R. Knabb, 2013: Recent Advancements in the TC Wind Speed Probability Program. Special Symposium on the Next Level of Predictions in Tropical Meteorology: Techniques, Usage, Support, and Impacts, 6-10 January, Austin, TX.

Straka, W.C., III, T. Jasmin, T.D. Rink, D.T. Lindsey, D.W. Hillger, S.D. Miller, and T.H. Achtor, 2013: McIDAS-V, visualization and data analysis for Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership, 29th Conference on Environmental Information Processing Technologies (formerly IIPS), 6-10 January, Austin, TX.

Toth, G.; and D. Hillger, 2012: Drought and desertification in postage stamps, WMO Bulletin, 61:2, p.35-39.

Wendoloski, E., M. DeMaria, J.F. Dostalek, 2013: Lightning Observations and Tropical Cyclogenesis.Sixth Conference on the Meteorological Applications of Lightning Data, 6-10 January, Austin, TX.

Accepted:

• Refereed 

Grasso L.D, D.W. Hillger, C. Schaaf, Z. Wang, R.L. Brummer, and R. DeMaria, 2013: Use of MODIS 16 Day Albedos in Generating GOES-R Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) Imagery.  J. Appl. Remote Sens.

D.W. Hillger, T. Kopp, T. Lee, D.T. Lindsey, C. Seaman, S.D. Miller, J. Solbrig, S.Q. Kidder, S. Bachmeier, T. Jasmin, and T. Rink, 2013: First Light Imagery from Suomi NPP VIIRS,  Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 

Knaff, J.A., M. DeMaria, C.R. Sampson, J.E. Peak, J. Cummings, W.H. Schubert, 2013: Upper Oceanic Energy Response to Tropical Cyclone Passage. Journal of Climate.

• Nonrefereed

Submitted:

• Refereed 

Grasso, L.D., D.W. Hillger, M. Sengupta, 2013:  Demonstrating the Utility of the GOES-R 2.25 µm band for Fire Retrieval. Geophysical Research Letters.

Knapp, K.R., J.A. Knaff, C. Sampsong, G. Riggio, A. Schnapp, 2013. A pressure-based analysis of the historical western North Pacific tropical cyclone intensity record. Mon.Wea.Rev.

Quiring, S., A. Schumacher, and S. Guikema, 2013: Incorporating Hurricane Forecast Uncertainty into Decision Support Applications, Bull. of the American Meteorological Society.

Seaman, C.J. and S.D. Miller, 2013: VIIRS Captures Aurora Motions, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.

Van Cleave, D., J.F. Dostalek, and T. Vonder Haar, 2013: The Dynamics and Snowfall Characteristics of Three Types of Extratropical Cyclone Comma Heads Categorized by Infrared Satellite Imagery. Weather and Forecasting.

• Nonrefereed 

Awards and Citations:

RAMM Branch received the Governor’s Award for High-Impact Research for their contributions to improved tropical cyclone track and intensity forecasting. These awards are presented annually by the CO-LABS consortium for best scientific contributions in the state of Colorado in the areas of Atmospheric Science, Foundational Technology, Public Health, and Sustainability. The award was presented by Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper at a ceremony on October 25, 2012 in Boulder, CO. (M. DeMaria, J. Knaff, D. Molenar, A. Schumacher, K. Musgrave, R. Brummer, D. Bikos)

Caption: The RAMMB tropical cyclone team receiving the High-Impact Research Award from Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper (center left).

Mark DeMaria was awarded the Banner I. Miller Award at the AMS Annual Meeting for his paper “A simplified dynamical system for tropical cyclone intensity prediction.”

Don Hillger, S.D. Miller, C. Seaman, S.Q. Kidder, and D.T. Lindsey received Certificates of Recognition from NASA, as a result of their work on the VIIRS Imagery Team for the Suomi NPP mission.  Others on the Imagery Team also received this award. (December)

Presentations:

S. Longmore attended the 93rd annual American Meteorological Society meeting in Austin, TX where he gave a talk on “A Pseudo Object Oriented netCDF Application Interface Layer to “Simplify” Access to Satellite and Future Atmospheric Datasets” for the Data Stewardship: Part I session for the 29th  Conference on Environmental Information Processing Technologies. He also attended all the AWIPS development sessions which he will be working on in the near future. (S. Longmore)

D.T. Lindsey traveled to Madison, WI, Oct. 8-12 for the National Weather Association Annual Meeting, and gave an oral presentation entitled “Improving forecasts of clouds and convection using simulated satellite imagery.” (D. Lindsey)

B. Connell adapted content from the GOES-R 101 in the SHyMet Forecaster course and presented a virtual session for a Caribbean audience on 6 December.  :  Kathy-Ann Caesar from the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) in Barbados is conducting a Distance Learning Course on Aeronautical Meteorology Continuing Professional Development.  The course was designed to address the World Meteorological Organizations Aeronautical Meteorological Personnel Competence Standards.  This presentation was given during the Unit focusing on Satellite Interpretation in the Tropics.  The existing VISIT and SHyMet modules: Basic Satellite Interpretation in the Tropics and Volcanoes and Volcanic Ash Part 1 were also used in the course.

B. Connell gave a brief description of the use of the VLab Training channel on GEONETCast Americas for the virtual GEONETCast Forum held on 21 November.  The Forum was held during the Group on Earth Observations (GEO-IX) Plenary that took place in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil.  A parallel action to demonstrate recent training efforts included the rebroadcast of four short video clips, less than 7 minutes each, through the VLab Training Channel on GEONETCast.  The video clips were from the recording of the 7 November 2012 virtual session of the Focus Group of the Americas and the Caribbean. 

Grasso., L.D., D.W. Hillger, R.L. Brummer, R. DeMaria, 2012: Synthetic GOES-R Imagery of Canopy Wildfires and Agricultural Burning, Great Divide Workshop, 3 October, Virtual webinar.

Posters:

Miller, S.D., S. Mills, C. Elvidge, D.T. Lindsey, T.F. Lee, and J.D. Hawkins, 2013: A New Frontier of Nighttime Environmental Sensing Brought to Light by the Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band, Ninth Annual Symposium on Future Operational Environmental Satellite Systems, 6-10 January, Austin, TX.

Meetings:

B. Connell attended the Sixth Meeting of the WMO Virtual Laboratory for Education and Satellite Meteorology (VLab) Management Group in Brazil on 8-11 October.  There were 27 participants representing Training Centers of Excellence from Australia, Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Kenya, Niger, Oman, Russian Federation, South Africa, Morocco and satellite operators from Europe, US, Russian Federation, Japan, and remotely from Europe and Korea.  Topics that the US supports as well as benefits from in exchanging training information include Regional Focus Groups (similar to the VISIT Satellite chat), Event weeks (for example training focused Precipitation), forecaster competencies, and exercises on assessing if we are doing a good job in our training activities. 

Virtual Laboratory Management Group Meeting in Brazil, October 2012

Youngsun Jung (CAPS) visited CIRA for two weeks. Louie Grasso spent a large amount of time with Youngsun teaching her about the use of satellite data at CIRA, introducing her to our synthetic satellite projects, and doing joint work on our current GOES-R3 Proxy Radiance Data project.  (Ming Xue, Director of CAPS, is the PI of this project.) Louie shared Jason Otkin’s code for a particle size calculation routine depending on each WRF microphysics scheme with Youngsun.  She also met with D. Bikos, J. Dostalek, J. Knaff, Y-J. Noh, and D. Lindsey during her visit to learn about their satellite expertise. (R. Brummer, L. Grasso) Excerpts from email from Y. Jung:

I very much enjoyed having the opportunity to meet you and scientists at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA). I would like to thank you and all of those who helped make my stay comfortable and fruitful. Everyone I met at CIRA has been very nice to me. I greatly appreciate the warm welcome and all the help I received there.

I owe a special note of gratitude to Dr. Louie Grasso who took a great deal of time to help me to learn how to interpret satellite data through many meetings I had with him. He also arranged all the meetings and trainings with other scientists for me.

I am also thankful to Dr. John Knaff, Dr. Milija Zupanski, Dan Bikos, Dan Lindsey, Jack Dostalek, Dr. Karina Apodaka, Dr. Man Zhang, and Dr. Yoo-Jeong Noh for their valuable trainings and discussions with me. They helped me understand the characteristics of satellite data and how to use them in numerical modeling studies.
I am looking forward to more collaboration between CAPS and CIRA in the future.

Gary Jedlovec, Kevin Fuell and Matt Smith from NASA/SPoRT visited CIRA on Oct. 30-Nov. 1 to discuss collaborations in the Satellite Proving Ground. Several areas for interaction were identified including establishment of a new Rocky Mountain front range Weather Forecast Office (WFO) collaboration on the evaluate of experimental satellite products, exchange of software and data for the new Northern Colorado Lightning Mapper Array, product development in AWIPS2, and new products for the National Hurricane Center proving ground in 2013. The SPoRT visit also involved travel to the Boulder and Cheyenne WFOs.  (M. DeMaria, D. Molenar, J. Knaff, D. Lindsey, R. Brummer, S. Miller, E. Szoke, H. Gosden, D. Bikos, B. Connell)

Dr. Christopher Landsea, the National Hurricane Center Science and Operations Officer (SOO) visited RAMMB. Chris gave a seminar entitled “Hurricanes and Global Warming: Expectations Versus Observations” and met with several RAMMB staff to discuss collaborative research related to Joint Hurricane Testbed, GIMPAP and PSDI projects. (M. DeMaria, J. Knaff,) Liz Page from the COMET Program visited CIRA and we discussed many aspects of our training programs and ways we can interact.  We touched on GOES-R Proving Ground projects and training directed towards national and international training for aviation interests.  Liz was visiting CIRA and the CSU Atmospheric Sciences Department for the day and gave a seminar on “The COMET Program’s Support of University Education.”  (M. DeMaria, B. Connell, D. Bikos)

Dr. Andi Walther (CIMSS) visited CIRA on Oct. 9-10.  He presented a seminar on cloud optical property retrievals, and met with several members of RAMMB group.  (S. Miller)

J. Knaff was interviewed by T. Lewis of Wired Magazine on the topic of why tropical cyclones look similar in satellite imagery. (J. Knaff)

D. Molenar continues participation in the bi-weekly AWIPS2 Experimental Products Development Team (EPDT) web training sessions hosted by SPoRT. (D. Molenar)