RAMM BRANCH WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING June 13, 2019

IN THE MEDIA:

CIRA’s GeoColor in the News: On 7 June 2019, THE WATCHERS (Watching the world evolve and transform) used CIRA’s GeoColor imagery for their article about an extreme rain event which hit the U.S. Gulf Coast on 5-6 June 2019: “A month's worth of rain hit parts of Texas and Louisiana in just 24 hours on June 5 to June 6, 2019, causing flash flooding and leaving at least one person dead. At least 4 tornadoes touched down in Louisiana.”https://watchers.news/2019/06/07/months-worth-of-rain-in-24-hours-hits-parts-of-us-gulf-coast-at-least-one-person-killed/Funding Source: GOESR. (S. Miller, C. Seaman, R. Brummer, CIRA, D. Lindsey, E/RA1, 970-491-8446, Steven.Miller@colostate.edu, Curtis.Seaman@colostate.edu, Renate.Brummer@colostate.edu, Dan.Lindsey@noaa.gov)

Figure: THE WATCHERS webpage using CIRA’s GeoColor imagery for their reporting.

ITEMS FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE OFFICE DIRECTOR, STAR:

ITEMS FOR THE DIRECTOR, CoRP:

FDTD GOES Applications Webinar: On 12 June 2019 D. Bikos coordinated a Forecast Decision Training Division (FDTD) GOES Applications Webinar. The title of the webinar was “Nocturnal Wildfire Smoke Tracking using GOES-16” and presented by Kevin Huyck (NWS WFO Duluth, MN). Kevin summarized experimental GOES-16 channel difference and RGB products for tracking smoke at night. The webinar was attended by 13 NOAA/NWS offices (mostly WFOs). All FDTD GOES Applications webinars are recorded and made available for viewing at: http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/training/visit/satellite_chat/ (D. Bikos, CIRA, 970-491-8446, Dan.Bikos@colostate.edu) Funding: VISIT and SHyMet.

JPSS Program Leadership Meeting: 11 July 2019, J. Torres presented to JPSS Leadership on ‘JPSS: Impacts on NWP, Product Applications and SatFC-J’ at the JPSS Program Leadership Meeting held at the David Skaggs Research Center in Boulder, CO. Presentation consisted of JPSS impacts on NWP, JPSS product applications in AWIPS along with JPSS Training. (J. Torres, CIRA, 970-491-8446, Jorel.Torres@colostate.edu) Funding: JPSS.

Article Accepted for Publication: The article “Addressing the cold air aloft aviation challenge with satellite sounding observations” by Weaver, G.M. (NWS), N. Smith (STC), E. B. Berndt (SPoRT), K. D. White (SPoRT), J. F. Dostalek (CIRA), and B. T. Zadovsky (formerly SPoRT) was accepted for publication in the Journal of Operational Meteorology. This work summarizes the collaborative effort among the NWS, STC, SPoRT, and CIRA to study cold air aloft over Alaska, a potential hazard to jet aircraft travel as prolonged exposure to air with temperatures below -65 C can result in ᐤdiminished fuel flow rates. (J. Dostalek, CIRA, 970-491-8446, Jack.Dostalek@colostate.edu) Funding: JPSS-PGRR.

Transition to operations activities: Updated CIRA/RAMMB Hurricane Intensity and Structure Algorithm (HISA) is getting ready to be transitioned to operations. For the last few weeks CIRA/RAMMB HISA Team has been participating in weekly telecons with NDE and ASSISTT to coordinate production rules and verify that the code runs in the same way at ASSIST/NDE and at CIRA. The Algorithm Readiness Review (ARR) is scheduled for the end of July. Funding source: PSDI. (G. Chirokova, A. Libardoni, R. DeMaria, CIRA, J. Knaff E/RA1, 970-491-8446, Galina.Chirokova@rams.colostate.edu , Alex.Libardoni@colostate.edu , Robert.DeMaria@rams.colostate.edu , John.Knaff@noaa.gov)

Automating gathering information for ISARA/S-NPP/NOAA-20 overpasses: As part of the evaluation of the low-light visible observations capabilities of the ISARA/CUMULUS Satellite, the list of conjunctions between ISARA/CUMULOS needs to be regularly created and updated for obtaining collocated ISARA and SNPP/NOAA-20 data. The time-consuming process of selecting best cases for conjunctions was almost completely automated. The selection process algorithm considers local time, day/night flag, distance between satellites, moon phase, moon illumination and if location is over land, ocean, or near the coast, and distance to land for over the ocean locations. All of that can be now completed by the newly developed software. The new software also adds to the Word document links and/or snapshots of Google maps, Black Marble images, and GeoColor SLIDER images, as well as figures that show GFS and ECMWF forecast for the conjunction time. The new automation code also allows for filtering by any of the added flags or combination of flags. This automated process significantly reduces the amount of time spent on case selection. The new software can put together all required information in about 20 minutes, while manual selection usually requires 2 – 3 days of work. The calculation of conjunctions for multi-day periods was already streamlined, so this aspect of the work has resulted in a useful process that is potentially

applicable to conjunction (simultaneous nadir overpass) analyses for other satellite pairings. Funding source: TMP 18-08 CubeSat Lowlight DNB (G. Chirokova, C. Combs, S. Miller, Brummer, CIRA, 970-491-8446, Galina.Chirokova@rams.colostate.edu, Cindy.Combs@colostate.edu, Steven.Miller@colostate.edu, Renate.Brummer@colostate.edu)

CAMP2Ex using GeoColor imagery: Weather forecasters for “The Clouds, Aerosol, and Monsoon Processes-Philippines Experiment” (CAMP2Ex) are now regularly using GeoColor imagery for their briefings. CIRA, CSU Atmospheric Science Department, and other MURI Project Team Members are involved in this field experiment. The example below is from the CAMP2Ex briefing on 7 June 2019. Funding Source: GOES-R and MURI. (S. Miller, C. Seaman, R. Brummer, CIRA, D. Lindsey, E/RA1, 970-491-8446, Steven.Miller@colostate.edu, Curtis.Seaman@colostate.edu, Renate.Brummer@colostate.edu, Dan.Lindsey@noaa.gov).

Figure: Slide with GeoColor imagery used at the CAMP2Ex weather briefing on 7 June 2019.

VISITORS: Nothing to Report

NEXT WEEK: Nothing to Report

LOOKING AHEAD: Nothing to Report