This paper discusses activities related to mesoscale product development in preparation for the GOES-R satellite to be launched in 2012. These new image products will feature improved spatial, temporal, spectral, and radiometric resolution compared to current GOES imagery. Emphasis in this paper is on simulations of GOES-R data using observations from existing operational and experimental satellites.
The Virtual Laboratory for Education and Training in Satellite Matters (VL) was established to maximize the exploitation of meteorological satellite data across the globe. It is a collaborative effort joining four major operational meteorological satellite operators with six WMO "centers of excellence" for education and training in satellite meteorology. Those "centers of excellence" serve as the satellite-focused training resource for WMO Members. The VL continues to evolve and has been used successfully in a number of WMO sponsored training events since 2000.
This paper addresses using satellite data for nowcasting severe storms in the 0-6 hour time frame. Weather, and weather related phenomena extend across a broad range of scales. In meteorology the link between the synoptic scale and the mesoscale is many times a key factor in controlling the intensity of local weather. The only observing tool capable of monitoring weather across those scales (and those scales interactions) is the geostationary satellite! Just as imagery from polar orbiting satellites helped advance understanding of synoptic scale phenomena, imagery from geostationary satellites is advancing our understanding of the mesoscale. A number of important discoveries using geostationary satellite imagery have had a dramatic
impact on mesoscale meteorology and, in turn, our ability to provide short term forecasts and warnings for disaster related weather events, including: areas of incipient squall line development; location of regions with high probability of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms; mesoscale convective complexes; and, areas with heavy convective rainfall. As exciting as current capabilities are, satellite systems that will come into being during the next several years will provide capabilities well beyond the present ones.
A method has been developed to derive both height and motion from satellite images using a purely geometrical technique. This is a combination of using stereo to measure height by viewing cloud from two view point and using several images in time to measure motion of clouds. The method requires that the cloud be viewed from two or more different perspectives with at least two of the views being at different times. With the new method time coincidence is a disadvantage, and higher accuracy is obtained when all views are at different times. For height verification, improvements have been made in the cloud height by shadow method. Accuracies of better than 1 km height and 0.5 m/sec are typical of the results.
Conference Committee Involvement (2)
Applications with Weather Satellites II
10 November 2004 | Honolulu, Hawai'i, United States
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