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Summary of Panel Meetings
The Satellite Continuity Panel of the National Weather Service (NWS) Modernization Committee is composed of the following:
George J. Gleghorn, chair
William E. Gordon
Robert J. Serafin
David S. Johnson, advisor
Floyd F. Hauth, study director
The panel met five times to review the technical and management aspects of satellite continuity and backup. Information was gathered to provide the basis for the committee's analysis of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite program in accordance with the study tasks as approved by the Executive Committee of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. Following are summaries of the five meetings, including date, place, principal participants, and a list of topics.
July 25, 1995, Silver Spring, Maryland
The panel met at the NWS Headquarters for presentations by and discussions with managers and staff members of National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), Systems Acquisition Office (SAO), NWS, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on technical aspects of plans for NOAA weather satellite coverage, continuity, and backup.
Principal Participants:
NESDIS: |
John Hussey, Gerald Dittberner, Greg Mandt |
SAO: |
Wilfred Mazur |
NASA: |
Vern Weyers, Marty Davis, Harry McCain |
NWS: |
Susan Zevin, Louis Uccellini |
List of Topics:
- NOAA's satellite programs
- NWS satellite requirements
- Geostationary operational environmental satellite (GOES) program
- GOES in-orbit availability prediction (1996–2011)
- Polar-orbiting operational environmental satellite (POES) program
- Television and infrared observation satellite (TIROS) constellation mission study (1995–2004)
- Data quality and feedback
- GOES follow-on schedule
October 25, 1995, Silver Spring, Maryland
The purpose of this meeting was to meet with principal NOAA managers to discuss policy and management issues related to planned NOAA geostationary and polar coverage in terms of system continuity and backup.
Principal Participants:
NESDIS: |
Robert Winokur, James Mannen, John Hussey, Jamie Hawkins |
NWS: |
Elbert J. Friday, Jr., Susan Zevin |
List of Topics:
- NOAA and NWS requirements for satellite data and priorities to meet these requirements within the geostationary and polar programs
- Strategies in NOAA satellite programs to meet continuity of coverage and backup requirements and priorities
- Factors governing operational lifetimes of NOAA satellites
- Plans for sensor improvements
- Converged polar satellite plans; integrated program office
October 26, 1995, Pleasant Hill, Missouri
The panel visited an NWS forecast office and river forecast center to observe and discuss the use of satellite data in forecast and hydrology operations.
Principal Participants:
NWS: |
Lynn Maximuk, William Bunting, Peter Browning |
List of Topics:
- Use of satellite data at the NWS forecast office and at the colocated river forecast center
- Tour of facility and demonstration of satellite data uses
October 26, 1995, Kansas City, Missouri
The purpose of this meeting was to review the use of satellite data at the Storm Prediction Center and the Aviation Weather Center of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP).
Principal Participants:
NWS: |
Fred Ostby, James Henderson, Joseph Schaffer, Fred Mosher, M. Doug Matthews, Terry Schoeni |
List of Topics:
- Use of satellite data at the Storm Prediction Center
- Use of satellite data at the Aviation Weather Center
- National and international responsibilities of the centers
- Availability and capabilities of current and future weather satellites for application at these centers
November 29, 1995, Camp Springs, Maryland
The panel met at the Environmental Modeling Center of the NCEP to gather information and discuss the use of GOES and POES data in numerical models at the NCEP.
Principal Participants:
NWS: |
Ronald McPherson, Eugenia Kalnay, Stephen Lord, Steven Tracton |
List of Topics:
- NCEP tests on GOES-8 sounder data
- Results of test evaluations
- Plans for further assessments of GOES-8/9 sounder data
- Use of radiance data in models
- Future sensor development
- Adequacy of NCEP testing resources