SatelliteDerived Wind, Cloud, and Surface Products at Direct Broadcast Sites in the Polar Regions

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Satellite-Derived Wind, Cloud, and Surface
Products at Direct Broadcast Sites in the Polar
Regions
Jeff Key, Matthew Lazzara, William Straka III,
Dave Santek, Liam Gumley, Kathy
Strabala NOAA/National Environmental
Satellite, Data, and Information ServiceMadison,
Wisconsin USA Space Science and Engineering
Center, University of WisconsinMadison,
Wisconsin USA
Objective To describe real-time products specific
to the polar regions that are generated on-site
at McMurdo, Antarctica. Potential Arctic sites
will be identified.
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Motivation for Direct Broadcast ProductsMODIS
Polar Winds
Routine production of MODIS winds began in 2002
with data from the NOAA bent pipe.
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Positive Impact on Weather Forecasts
Demonstrated By ECMWF, NASA GMAO, and others
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Forecast Busts (GMAO)
Southern Hemisphere Extratropics
Arctic
Blue is forecast with MODIS winds red is control
run
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Error Propagation to the Midlatitudes Snowfall
Accumulated snowfall forecasts, in mm water
equivalent, over Alaska on 03/20/02 (end of
animation period). At right is the snowfall from
the 5-day CTL forecast, below left is the
snowfall from the 5-day MODIS forecast, below
right is the snowfall from a 12-hr forecast for
verification. The CTL run produced spurious
snowfall in southern Alaska.
CTL
MODIS
TRUTH
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Impact of MODIS Winds in the Tropics and
on Hurricane Track Forecasts (JCSDA)
AVERAGE HURRICANE TRACK ERRORS (NM)
FREQUENCY OF SUPERIOR HURRICANE PERFORMANCE ()

• Percent of cases where the specified run had a
  more accurate hurricane position than the other
  run.
• Note These cases are for hurricanes in the
  subtropics.

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MODIS winds filling observing system void Being
used operationally since Jan 2003
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MODIS Winds in NWP
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MODIS Polar Winds Real-Time Processing Delays -
Frequency of Delays in Wind Retrievals
With an average delay of 3-5 hours, MODIS winds
do not meet cut-off the 3-hr cutoff for
regional/limited area data assimilation systems.
Possible solution Generate winds with direct
broadcast data, either on- or off-site.
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X-band Satellite System at McMurdo Station,
Antarctica

• An L/S/X-band ground station was installed at
  McMurdo station in January 2005.
• The system is a SeaSpace design with a 2.4 meter
  dish, three computing systems with powerful
  processing capability.
• McMurdo station now has the capability to capture
  and process AQUA and TERRA satellite data.
• The system is also one of the first to be able to
  capture all telemetries available L-band NOAA,
  S-band DMSP and X-Band AQUA/TERRA.
• The system will be used to support Antarctic
  flight and field operations.

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The new L/S/X-band system

• Capabilities
• DMSP S-Band now collecting
• NOAA L-Band now collecting
• MODIS AQUA and TERRA collecting.
• The system is made up of three separate Linux
  based computers, one for scheduling and capture
  functions, one for custom image development and
  monitoring, and a Linux cluster that processes
  the large amounts of MODIS data.

• Data Processing
• Daily Archive All data that we capture goes
  directly to SDLT tapes and DDS3. The data is in
  Raw TDF format that is accessible through
  SeaSpace software. Roughly 22 passes a day for
  each satellite (variable).
• At this time RPSC plans to ship all collected
  data to the AARC at Scripps. The first shipment
  will be during WinFly mid August 2005.

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Uses of Satellite Data Collected at McMurdo

• Flight forecasting. Very important!
• Weather prediction and planning.
• Sea ice monitoring and research.
• Cloud physics - albedo, cloud structure, fog
  research, climatology.
• Animal tracking (indirect) - seals and penguins.
• Operations in sea ice for navigation of our
  support vessels.
• Ocean color, chlorophyll and primary production.

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MODIS Data
January 2005
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Example of DMSP OLS Imagery
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Example of DMSP SSM/I Imagery
SSM/I data are important for vessel navigation.
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MODIS Polar Winds Real-Time Processing Time -
Bent-pipe MODIS Data
Processing times are for the middle image in a
3-orbit triplet. Actually processing time from
image acquisition to availability of wind vectors
is 100 minutes (1.67 hrs) less than shown.
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MODIS Polar Winds Real-Time Processing Time -
Direct Broadcast MODIS Data at McMurdo
Processing times are for the middle image in a
3-orbit triplet. Actually processing time from
image acquisition to availability of wind vectors
is 100 minutes (1.67 hrs) less than shown. MODIS
images are available (image acquisition to level
1b) in 20-30 minutes. Winds processing takes an
additional 10-15 minutes.
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http//stratus.ssec.wisc.edu/db/mcmurdo
Current Products at McMurdo(all
MODIS)WindsCloud maskCloud pressureCloud
phaseTotal precipitable waterInversion
strengthInversion depthIce/snow surface
temperatureIce/snow albedoPlanned
productsIce motion (MODIS AMSR-E)Ice
ageCloud optical propertiesIMAPP/MODIS
Science Team products
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Examples of McMurdo DB MODIS Products
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Examples of McMurdo DB MODIS Products
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Examples of McMurdo DB MODIS Products
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Examples of McMurdo DB MODIS Products
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MODIS Direct Broadcast Sites
Next Steps Arctic Direct Broadcast Sites

• Station masks for
• Fairbanks, Alaska
• Kiruna, Sweden
• Svalbard

Sites currently under consideration Fairbanks,
Alaska, Tromsø, Norway, and Finland)
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Another Potential Antarctic SitePalmer Station
is on the list for L/S/X
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Looking Forward Validating VIIRS Polar Products
at DB Sites
In preparation for the NPP/NPOESS era, we will
generate VIIRS-like snow/ice products in an
operational environment at direct broadcast sites
in the Arctic and Antarctic and provide automatic
validation of these products. Snow/ice and other
products (e.g., polar winds) will be generated
with contractor code and experimental algorithms
and validated with surface measurements, when and
where available, in real-time.
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Summary

• The need for more timely MODIS polar winds data
  by NWP centers motivated the development of a
  direct broadcast winds system. Other products
  were subsequently added for use by forecasters
  and field personnel, including cloud properties
  (from IMAPP), snow/ice surface temperature and
  albedo, and temperature inversion properties.
  Future products will include ice motion, ice age,
  and cloud optical properties.
• These products have been generated using the NSF
  X-band system in McMurdo, Antarctica, since March
  2005. All products are generated on-site.
• Potential Arctic sites include the IPO system
  operated by KSAT at Tromsø, Norway, and the NOAA
  system at Gillmore Creek, Alaska. Sweden and
  Finland sites are also possible.
• Operational and experimental for NPOESS products
  will be generated and validated at DB sites in
  the Arctic and Antarctic.