Adapting Satellite Soundings for Operational Forecasting within the Hazardous Weather Testbed

Rebekah B Esmaili,John F Dostalek,Christopher D Barnet,Mitchell Goldberg,Emily B Berndt,William Sjoberg,Nadia Smith,Kristopher White,Brian H Kahn

doi:10.3390/rs12050886

Abstract

In this paper, we describe how researchers and weather forecasters work together to make satellite sounding data sets more useful in severe weather forecasting applications through participation in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Hazardous Weather Testbed (HWT) and JPSS Proving Ground and Risk Reduction (PGRR) program. The HWT provides a forum for collaboration to improve products ahead of widespread operational deployment. We found that the utilization of the NOAA-Unique Combined Atmospheric Processing System (NUCAPS) soundings was improved when the product developer and forecaster directly communicated to overcome misunderstandings and to refine user requirements. Here we share our adaptive strategy for (1) assessing when and where NUCAPS soundings improved operational forecasts by using real, convective case studies and (2) working to increase NUCAPS utilization by improving existing products through direct, face-to-face interaction. Our goal is to discuss the lessons we learned and to share both our successes and challenges working with the weather forecasting community in designing, refining, and promoting novel products. We foresee that our experience in the NUCAPS product development life cycle may be relevant to other communities who can then build on these strategies to transition their products from research to operations (and operations back to research) within the satellite meteorological community.

Highlights

National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters have access to over 300 satellite data sets within the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS), their data visualization and decision support platform
To transition satellite data from research into useful weather forecasting and decision-making, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) administers several annual testbeds that each focus on scenarios encountered in areas such as aviation, hydrometeorology, space weather, hurricanes, and severe storms
Forecasters participating in the Hazardous Weather Testbed (HWT) provide feedback through surveys, written descriptions and screenshots of scenarios they encountered, and through direct communication with the researchers who are present during testing

Summary

Introduction

National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters have access to over 300 satellite data sets within the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS), their data visualization and decision support platform. It is paramount that these satellite data sets give forecasters information that is accessible, timely, and relevant. To transition satellite data from research into useful weather forecasting and decision-making, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) administers several annual testbeds (https://www.testbeds.noaa.gov/) that each focus on scenarios encountered in areas such as aviation, hydrometeorology, space weather, hurricanes, and severe storms. The Hazardous Weather Testbed (HWT) fosters an environment where researchers and forecasters collaboratively assess new technology for issuing warnings and forecasting severe weather [1]. The phrase “operational forecasting,” or more colloquially, operations, refers to the active and non-stop data collection and weather prediction needed to protect human life and property

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