1. First Polar Winds from AVHRR HRPT Data
Winds are now being generated from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data collected at the NESDIS High Resolution Picture Transmission (HRPT) receiving station in Barrow, Alaska. The first winds were generated on February 16, All processing is done at the NESDIS Fairbanks Command and Data Acquisition Station in Fairbanks. Data from NOAA-16, -17, and -18 are processed.
The HRPT wind information is an improvement over the AVHRR Global Area Coverage (GAC) winds in that it is available much sooner (e.g., 25 minutes after acquisition rather than 2-3 hours) and at a higher spatial resolution.
Significance: Polar wind data has been shown to improve global weather forecasts. Timeliness is critical. Generating winds at AVHRR receiving stations and MODIS direct broadcast sites allows more wind data to be used in NWP model runs.
(Jeff Key)