Utilization of Operational Environmental Satellite Data Ensuring Readiness for 2010 and Beyond (2004) / Chapter Skim
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5 Critical Factors Driving the Evolution of Operational Satellite Data Management Responsibilities
5 Critical Factors Driving the Evolution of Operational Satellite Data Management Responsibilities
Pages 60-82
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From page 60... ...
This chapter identifies the driving requirements for operational data system management, captures the principal critical factors, and provides references to user segments where they are definitely required. REAL-TIME PROCESSING Latency -- the amount of time it takes to progress from photons into the sensor to useful data products in the hands of the users -- is a measure of product quality that is as significant as accuracy, precision, long-term stability, and spatial-temporal resolution.
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From page 61... ...
instruments flying on the Terra and Aqua platforms and processed and made available by the University 1 Jack Kelly, GOES Users' Conference, October 1, 2002. 2 "FNMOC Data Products Built from NPOESS Environmental Data Records," Jeff Haferman, NPOESS NPP Calibration/Validation Working Group, June 12, 2003, National Conference Center, Leesburg, Va.
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From page 62... ...
Not only is the solution cheaper than today's traditional approaches, but the globally distributed network of 15 receptors are also linked to processing centrals via commercial fiber to enable both low data latency and high data avail ability. Facilitated by the near-instantaneous and near-continuous data availability, ground processing executes efficiently, producing and delivering the first environ mental satellite data products less than 4 minutes after they are sensed on orbit, completing more than 60 percent in 10 minutes, and 95 percent of the products in less than half an hour.
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From page 63... ...
Transparency has a second context: the provision of comprehensive metadata that enables user high-level and drill-down capability for insight into the complete pedigree of a product, algorithm theoretical basis, sensor, calibration, ancillary data, and processing path, with error budgets all available on the Web. Taken as a whole, this information empowers the environmental satellite data users as comprehensive authorities on the products they are using.
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From page 64... ...
In addition, improved externally supplied, ancillary data are not fully available or available at their best quality in near real time. Every change to an algorithm, be it the theoretical basis or even the exception handling, breaks the continuity of the measurement time-series, even as it improves the instantaneous product quality.
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From page 65... ...
Environmental satellite data processing systems are sized to process a day's worth of data in one day, or "1X." Such a system would be insufficient for reprocess 4B.A. Harris and G
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From page 66... ...
Because of computer technology evolution, such as Moore's law and the equivalents, hardware refresh cycles built into the system design will provide faster reprocessing capabilities in proportion with the growing length of the environmental data set. PRODUCT CHARACTERIZATION -- ADDRESSING THE SKILL LEVELS OF USERS The diverse environmental satellite data user community has equally diverse product characterization requirements.
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From page 67... ...
SOURCE: "The Role of Satellite Data in Environmental Modeling," Louis Uccellini, director, NCEP, presentation to the National Research Council Committee on Environmental Satellite Data Utilization, September 11, 2003.
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From page 68... ...
. To accelerate use of research and operational satellite data in operational NWP models, the environmental satellite data teams must work with weather prediction operations staff as early in the process as possible, and continu ally coordinate in advance during operations so that processing changes don't "break the system." NWP will always want to use promising new (and possibly complex)
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From page 69... ...
. The single most-important constraint for these operational users is the operational time line, and their chief interest is assured delivery of timely environmental satellite data to them.
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From page 70... ...
RESOURCES Ready access, easy utilization, and assured preservation of our nation's environ mental satellite data are essential to achieving NOAA's four mission goals, which directly relate to improving the quality of our weather forecasts, advanced notifica tion of severe weather, understanding the impact of global climate change, sustaining an optimized long-term energy and agricultural policy, transportation management, and even homeland security planning and scenario development. The next genera tions of environmental satellites, NPOESS and GOES-R, represent a taxpayer investment in system development in excess of $10 billion.
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From page 71... ...
that NOAA lacks a comprehensive plan and sufficient funding to address the utilization of the nation's current and future environmental satellite data. NOAA recognizes the challenges and investments needed to provide for improved utilization of these data.
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From page 72... ...
. Often, such NASA planetary missions serve to demonstrate new flight, ground, and data utiliza tion technologies and capabilities that have direct application to environmental satellite data utilization here on Earth.
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From page 73... ...
Responsiveness to users' changing needs, their "value stream," is essential to facilitating the comprehensive utilization of environmental satellite data. It should be clear from the sections above that every one of the core technologies required to make NPOESS, GOES-R, and the IEOS successful in meeting the needs of the user community are either already in place today or will be in place when they are needed.
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From page 74... ...
These workshops typically inform users of future capabilities and applications; determine user needs for new products, distribution of GOES data, data archiving and access to stored data, instruments of opportunity, access to sample data sets (prior to the launch of the next series) , and future training; assess user and societal benefits; and improve communication between NOAA and users.11 Ensuring that users' needs are met may be bolstered through a system of knowledgeable environmental satellite data utilization brokers who can work among the communities involved -- essen tially, trained practitioners who develop effective linkages, connecting people with people throughout the end-to-end system.
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From page 75... ...
This includes the validation of measurements and product accuracy and uncertainty by way of direct comparison to in situ measurements; the validation of measurements' and products' performance by means of indirect comparison of measurements; intercomparison with other environmental satellite measurements and products; and the documentation of measurement and product error characteristics for retrospective evaluation of the statistical performance.
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From page 76... ...
. Time FIGURE 5.2 The chart portrays that the exponential increase of remote sensing capability is enabled by the corresponding growth in specific technologies such as computer processor chips (whose performance improves by a factor of two every 1.5 years according to Moore's law)
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From page 77... ...
A standard algorithm development process must be designed and demonstrated in the prelaunch period for every environmental satellite. This "standard," or "baseline" processing algorithm suite can be defined as that algorithm set meeting the mission's critical operational requirements, though possibly without achieving the full system potential and/or enhanced capabilities.
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From page 78... ...
Availability of Documentation RDRs, SDRs, EDRs, and their associated processing algorithms and external ancillary data should be documented in a consistent and accessible manner, where all metadata and processing procedures are included to the extent that retrospective users following the "recipe" would be able to successfully repeat the production process.
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From page 79... ...
There are many instances where revolutionary sensors and algorithms are demonstrated but are unable to bridge the transition to operational implementation. The CONNTRO report documents that committee's findings and recommendations on this issue in great detail.12 Many of the recommendations are directly and equally relevant to environmental satellite data utilization, and they should be considered and responded to by policy makers.
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From page 80... ...
Radiance "sensitivity" defines the sensor's ability to distinguish the smallest variations in radiance to be encountered. Increasingly, utilization of environmental satellite data is expanding toward a focus on calibrated, geolocated radiances as a critical end point, as opposed to the geophysical data products themselves.
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From page 81... ...
comprises a radiometer that views the lamp-illuminated integrating sphere and the Sun-illuminated solar diffuser, comparing the ratio of the two measurements over time to detect and estimate solar diffuser reflectance variations. These results are used to update the reflectance spectral calibration coefficients used in the MODIS ground calibration processing.
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From page 82... ...
Further success in extending severe storm warnings across the globe to benefit all nations will depend on extending the benefits of U.S. environmental satellite calibration consistency to other international satellite systems.
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