Satellite Use in Operations Bryan Caffrey Science Operations Officer National Weather Service Forecast Office Juneau, Alaska

WFO challenges WFO challenges Marine Marine Aviation Aviation Hydrology Hydrology Future/Needs Future/Needs Satellite Use in Operations

Operational Challenges in SE AK Smallest WFO in AK Smallest WFO in AK –≈ 150,000 mi 2 land and water –≈ 58,000 mi 2 land –Over 2000 islands Defined by complex terrain Defined by complex terrain –Sea-level up to 18,000 feet –Large areas of ice Transportation infrastructure Transportation infrastructure –Limited road system –Heavily navigated: Cruise, Freight, Commercial Fishing, Recreation

Marine Winds Winds –Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) –Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Waves Waves –Jason-2 altimetry

ASCAT Strengths Strengths –Observation in data sparse areas –Known biases Weaknesses Weaknesses –Coastal areas not sampled –Limited coverage

SAR High resolution High resolution Enhanced flow in converging channels Enhanced flow in converging channels Wind sheltered and exposed regions Wind sheltered and exposed regions

SAR Deficiencies for Operations Available for SE Alaska less than 5% of the hours in a year Available for SE Alaska less than 5% of the hours in a year –Polar orbit passes overhead 2 times per day Latency - due to processing delays Latency - due to processing delays

Jason-2 Altimetry Benefits Benefits –Verification for wave models Limitations Limitations –coverage Image courtesy of

Aviation Stratus/Fog Stratus/Fog –MVFR/IFR/LIFR probabilites –Fog Depth/Cloud type/thickness –Microphysics Other Other –Ash –Dust/Smoke –Snow vs Cloud

Flight Category Probabilities Significant errors due to reliance on model BL RH

Fog Mask/Cloud Thickness/Type Strengths Strengths –1 km resolution Weakness Weakness –Frequency –Fog mask only nighttime

24hr/NT Microphysics Sporadic temporal nature Useful for identifying other features too

Other

Hydrology QPE/Rainrate QPE/Rainrate Blended/Layered PW Blended/Layered PW Snowfall Rate Snowfall Rate

QPE/Rainrate Coverage for areas with radar beam blockage Coverage for areas with radar beam blockage Weakness Weakness –NESDIS QPE - cannot see through thick cirrus –Rainrate relies on ice particles

Blended/Layered PW Identifying potential heavy precipitation/atmospheric rivers Identifying potential heavy precipitation/atmospheric rivers

Snowfall Rate Weaknesses Weaknesses –No sampling over water –Resolution

Products in AWIPS

Future Global Precipitation Measurement Global Precipitation Measurement Lightning Mapper Array Lightning Mapper Array Rapid Scan Operations Rapid Scan Operations Needs Improvements to lightning detection Improvements to lightning detection Improvements to precipitation products Improvements to precipitation products Improvements to stratus/fog detection Improvements to stratus/fog detection Increased spatial and temporal resolution Increased spatial and temporal resolution