# Presentation: 710687

## 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.

## Motivation for Direct Broadcast Products:MODIS Polar Winds

- Routine production of MODIS winds began in 2002 with data from the NOAA “bent pipe”.

## Positive Impact on Weather Forecasts Demonstrated

**By ECMWF, NASA GMAO, and others**

## Forecast Busts (GMAO)

**Forecast Busts (GMAO)**

- Arctic

- Southern Hemisphere Extratropics

- Blue is forecast with MODIS winds; red is control run

## 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”

**Notes:**
The upper right panel shows the 96-108h forecast of 12h accumulated snow (in mm water equivalents) for the CTL forecast from 15 March 12Z. The lower left panel shows the same forecast from the MODIS experiment. The lower right panel shows the 0-12h forecast of 12h accumulated snow from the 19 March 12Z forecast - as a proxy verifying snow analysis. As you see, CTL shows some spurious snow fall in Southern Alaska, whereas MODIS doesn't. And MODIS "verifies" much better.

## Impact of MODIS Winds in the Tropics and on

| 13.2  | 66.5 | 102.8 | 301.1 | Cntrl |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 11.4 | 60.4 | 89.0 | 252.0 | Cntrl + MODIS |
| 74 | 64 | 52 | 34 | Cases   (#) |
| 00-h | 24-h | 48-h | 120-h | Time |

- AVERAGE HURRICANE TRACK ERRORS (NM)

| 48.9   | 44.8 | 39.6 | 29.4 | Cntrl |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 51.1 | 55.2 | 60.4 | 70.6 | Cntrl + MODIS |
| 74 | 64 | 52 | 34 | Cases   (#) |
| 00-h | 24-h | 48-h | 120-h | Time |

- 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.

- Hurricane Track Forecasts (JCSDA)

## MODIS winds filling observing system void

- Being used operationally since Jan 2003

## MODIS Winds in NWP

## 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.

**Notes:**
The figures show the distribution of time that it takes to generate the winds, including MODIS data acquisition.  The left figure is for the Arctic; the right is for the Antarctic. It is not yet known how much time we can save by using DB sites, but we hope it will be at least 30-45 minutes.

## 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.

## 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.

## 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.

## MODIS Data

- January 2005

## Example of DMSP OLS Imagery

## Example of DMSP SSM/I Imagery

- SSM/I data are important for vessel navigation.

## 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.

## 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.

## http://stratus.ssec.wisc.edu/db/mcmurdo

**Current Products at McMurdo**(all MODIS):WindsCloud mask*Cloud pressure*Cloud phase*Total precipitable water*Inversion strengthInversion depthIce/snow surface temperatureIce/snow albedo**Planned products**:Ice motion (MODIS + AMSR-E)Ice ageCloud optical properties**IMAPP/MODIS Science Team products*

**http://stratus.ssec.wisc.edu/db/mcmurdo**

## Examples of McMurdo DB MODIS Products

## Examples of McMurdo DB MODIS Products

## Examples of McMurdo DB MODIS Products

## Examples of McMurdo DB MODIS Products

## MODIS Direct Broadcast Sites

- Next Steps: Arctic Direct Broadcast Sites

- Sites currently under consideration: Fairbanks, Alaska, Tromsø, Norway, and Finland)

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

## Another Potential Antarctic Site:Palmer Station is on the list for L/S/X

## 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.

## 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.