Use of Satellite Data at National Weather Service Forecast Offices
J. Braun
Presented by Don Moore, from the NOAA/NWS WFO in Billings, MT, his presentation titled “Use of Satellite Data at National Weather Service Forecast Offices” has both great foresight and hindsight in the use of GOES data for operational use at the NWS Weather Forecast Offices.
Satellite data, particularly from GOES, has long been an important tool for weather forecasters in the National Weather Service to better identify and track mesoscale features that play an important role in high impact weather. Also very important to forecasters is the ability to use satellite to assess model performance, which can have implications on short term and medium range forecasts. The greater spatial and temporal resolution of future GOES, along with new channels, will provide an even greater ability to monitor mesoscale features and assess model performance. It will also allow forecasters to use GOES in ways that are not be currently done. This includes understanding the spatial distribution of temperatures in complex terrain, which is critical when providing mesoscale and microscale forecasts for wildfire support. This presentation will review some common ways in which GOES is being used by National Weather Service forecasters. However, the bulk of the presentation will discuss the current uses of MODIS’s higher resolution imagery by the National Weather Service to better understand weather conditions impacting wildfires.
Please click here http://ams.confex.com/ams/88Annual/techprogram/paper_135915.htm to go to Don’s recorded presentation given at the 5th GOES Users Conference in January 2008.