The nation’s newest, most advanced weather satellite, GOES-R, launches from Cape Canaveral this week. Scientists at Colorado State University’s Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) are at the forefront of developing new tools and products for the mission.
Steve Miller, research scientist at CIRA: Miller leads a team working on true-color imaging of Earth. He and his team have developed a suite of algorithms that use GOES-R’s Advanced Baseline Imager to produce ultra high-definition images of the planet. These new capabilities should help forecasters identify surface features like wildfire, snow, clouds, dust storms and other difficult-to-identify phenomena.
John Knaff, NOAA/NESDIS/STaR/RAMMB: Knaff and colleagues are developing tools to look at lightning frequency and intensity inside rapidly intensifying tropical storms.
Dan Lindsey, NOAA/NESDIS/STaR/RAMMB: Lindsey and his team will blend observations from GOES-R into graphical representations that match visualizations from weather forecast models. Transitions between observations and forecasts will become much more apparent, and forecasts can be adjusted more quickly.
Don Hillger, NOAA/NESDIS/STaR/RAMMB: Acting head of the NOAA Regional and Mesoscale Meteorology Branch embedded at CIRA, Hillger oversees federal research at CIRA and performs satellite remote sensing research on behalf of NOAA.
Bernie Connell, research associate at CIRA: Connell organizes training programs for meteorologists nationwide to learn how to use GOES-R products.
Andrea Schumacher, research associate at CIRA: Schumacher is the liaison between GOES-R and the National Hurricane Center, where she will help evaluate GOES-R products to optimize their use in hurricane forecasting.
Jim Purdom, senior research scientist at CIRA: Former director of the Office of Research and Applications at NOAA/NESDIS, Purdom now serves on several National Science Boards and established the Virtual Laboratory for Satellite Data Utilization, which, among other things, integrates global GOES and GOES-R observations.
Acronyms
GOES-R: Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite – R Series
CIRA: Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere
NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NESDIS: National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service
STaR: Center for Satellite Applications and Research
RAMMB: Regional and Mesoscale Meteorology Branch
