1. Current Satellites, Products, and Activities
NOAA / NESDIS / NWS / CIRA
Bernie Connell, CIRA
5th Meeting of the WMO Virtual Laboratory Management Group
Beijing, China July 2010

2. NOAA Satellite and Information Service
Basic information that I am presenting should be readily available – and I am pointing you to this link to get updated information should you need it.

3. GOES-P launched March 4, 2010 – renamed GOES-15 when it reached operational orbit on March 17

4. Through the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) , NOAA will be responsible for management and procurement of the satellites and instruments associated with the afternoon orbit, which is most critical to data for weather and climate. NOAA will contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to accomplish some of these tasks. The Department of Defense will be responsible for the morning orbit that is critical to national defense. NOAA will continue its successful partnership with the Air Force by managing the ground systems development and operations of the Air Force satellites.
Not listed here is JASON-2 Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM)/JASON-2: One aspect of climate change is sea level rise, which affects much of the world's population that live in coastal areas. To measure the height of the ocean around the world, NOAA participates in a joint Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM) program between NOAA, NASA, France's Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), and European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). This is a joint effort by the four organizations to measure sea surface height by using a radar altimeter mounted on a low-earth orbiting satellite called Jason-2. Satellite altimetry data provides sea surface heights for determining ocean circulation, climate change and sea-level rise. These sea surface height measurements are necessary for ocean modeling, forecasting El Niño/La Niña events, and hurricane intensity prediction.

5. Training
VISIT - Virtual Institute for Satellite Integrated Training
SHyMet – Satellite Hydrology and Meteorology
COMET – Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training
SPoRT – Short-term Prediction Research and Transition Center

6. New VISIT training sessions
Ensemble Tropical Rainfall Potential (eTRaP) (June 2010)
The UW Convectve Initiation Product (June 2010)
POES and AVHRR Data in AWIPS (May 2010)
Basic Satellite Interpretation in the Tropics (December 2009)
An Overview of Tropical Cyclone Track Guidance Models used by NHC (June 2009/10)
An Overview of Tropical Cyclone Intensity Guidance Models used by NHC (June 2009/10)

7. New SHyMet training course
SHyMet for Forecasters (January 2010)
Core modules:
Introduction to Remote Sensing for Hydrology
Interpreting Satellite Signatures
Satellite Applications for Tropical Cyclones: Dvorak Technique
Aviation Hazards
Water Vapor Channels
GOES-R 101
Optional modules
Regional Satellite Cloud Composites from GOES
Volcanic Ash Hazards (Part 1)

8. New COMET modules
Multispectral Satellite Applications: RGB Products Explained (June 2010)
QPF Verification: Challenges and Tools (May 2010)
Introduction to Tropical Meteorology, Chapter 11: Observations, Analysis, and Prediction of Tropical Weather (March 2010)
Toward an Advanced Sounder on GOES? (January 2010)
Precipitation Estimates, Part II: Analysis (January 2010)
Recognition and Impact of Vorticity Maxima and Minima in Satellite Imagery (December 2009)
Satellite Feature Identification: Blocking Patterns (June 2009)
Jason-2: Using Satellite Altimetry to Monitor the Ocean (June 2009)

9. New SPoRT modules http://weather.msfc.nasa.gov/sport/training/
Pseudo Geostationary Lightning Mapper (May 2010)
CIRA Blended TPW and Anomaly Products (November 2009)
MODIS Fog Product (August 2009)
Lightning Mapping Array: Part 1 (March 2009)

10. International
Americas and Caribbean Focus Group

11. Thank you! Questions or Comments?