Events

Recent Events

Seminar Speaker: John Haynes, Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA)
The radar and lidar onboard CloudSat and CALIPSO have provided a decade and a half of joint observations of the vertical structure of clouds, aerosols, and precipitation in the atmosphere. These are research missions, but measurements from these instruments have contributed significantly to operational products through more indirect pathways. This work examines how historic spaceborne radar and lidar data have been used to add "depth" to the mostly cloud-top information provided by operational passive sensors like the GOES Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) and JPSS Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), specifically through contributions to NOAA's Cloud Base Height and Cloud Cover Layers products. Applications that will be discussed include development of passive sensor-based cloud vertical cross sections for Alaska pilots operating in challenging terrain, as well as experimental global 3D gridded cloud products for aviation. The use of active sensor data to train a machine learning model to determine the presence of low-levels clouds in ABI/VIIRS scenes will also be discussed.The 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) provides an opportunity to bring together world-class experts on extreme weather and climate with researchers in the fields of water quality/scarcity, energy, food, and health/diseases. AOS science features in a number of talks during this meeting. The stratospheric volcanic eruption creates both local hazards and climate-perturbation potential. The young volcanic cloud (VC) is inherently extreme and peculiar in its form and composition, which hampers accurate characterization; most individual satellite remote sensing (SRS) instruments are not designed for such extreme atmospheric conditions. The aged VC may be so tenuous as to be nearly undetectable by certain SRS techniques. A basic understanding of the evolving VC lies in combining observations from different sensors that together can fully capture the physical features- height and concentration of ash, sulfur, or ice. NRL's research thrust is to optimally combine measurements of volcanic events to better understand how the VC adversely affects individual SRS and impacts the earth/atmosphere system. Pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) are fire-induced and smoke-infused thunderstorms that serve as the primary pathway for smoke to reach the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). The magnitude of smoke plumes observed in the UTLS has increased significantly in recent years, rivaling or exceeding the impact from all volcanic eruptions observed over the last decade, with the potential for significant climate feedbacks on seasonal and hemispheric scales. We summarize what the community has learned from these extreme events and identify science questions that remain unanswered. Emphasis is placed on NASA satellite observations that serve a critical role in this rapidly growing and interdisciplinary research community. The Atmosphere Observing System (AOS) will have a suborbital component that will add measurements from the air and from the surface. In this seminar, invited speakers discussed how suborbital activities have enhanced or could enhance operations/applications among air agencies. The Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms (IMPACTS) is a NASA funded EVS-3 project to study Northeast United States snowstorms. The goals of IMPACTS are to improve the understanding of snowfall processes, remote sensing of snow, and the prediction of banded structure and evolution. Members of AOS teams will present the current status of the mission.The Atmosphere Observing System (AOS) will help provide transformative three-dimensional space-based and suborbital observations of essential collocated cloud, dynamic, precipitation and aerosol processes, leading to improved predictions of weather and smoke that will directly support and enhance aviation applications. In this seminar invited panelists, Danny Sims (FAA AWRP), Nathan Polderman (United Airlines), and Ty Higginbotham (AWC), discussed their current uses of remote sensing products for monitoring and modeling hazardous weather, with a particular focus on data product use for turbulence, icing and low-level cloud hazards. Please join us at the next AOS Applications Seminar Series talk: UNICEF data needs and barriers in the area of public health and air quality. This talk, presented by Amy Wickman (UNICEF), provided an overview of UNICEF's work in the climate, energy, environment and disaster risk reduction sectors, including action to address air pollution. This was then followed by a discussion of how measurements from the upcoming AOS mission such as weather and air quality forecasting and modeling can benefit UNICEF, its partners and communities where UNICEF works. In this seminar, invited panelists will discuss their current uses of lidar for applications and the benefits of these instruments for societal decision-making activities. The 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society provides an opportunity to bring together world-class experts on extreme weather and climate with researchers in the fields of water quality/scarcity, energy, food, and health/diseases. AOS science will be featured in a number of talks during the 102nd AMS Annual Meeting to be held online on January 23-27, 2022.Please join us at the next AOS Applications Seminar Series talk: Could wildfires amplify drought and heatwave through the coupling between aerosols, clouds, precipitation and atmospheric circulation?. Our invited Speaker is Dr. Rong Fu (UCLA). The American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting is the primary gathering for Earth and space scientists, students, and those in affiliated fields to share scientific findings and identify innovative solutions. Over 45 AOS-related presentations will be given at this year's meeting.Speakers Emily Berndt (MSFC/SPoRT), Aaron Naeger (UAH/SPoRT), Anita LeRoy (UAH/SPoRT), and Aaron Jacobs (NOAA NWS), will discuss NASA's SPoRT research and application activities as well as application opportunities relevant to the future AOS mission. Members of AOS teams will present the current status of the mission.Please join us at the first AOS Applications Seminar Series talk. Invited speaker, Armin Sorooshian (U. of Arizona), will speak about NASA's ACTIVATE program and AOS applications. Email Andrea Portier to register. Members of the Study Management and Executive Science teams will present the current definition of ACCP science objectives and the status of candidate mission architectures that have been studied. In a series of three half-day virtual meetings, this workshop will focus on current applications and future opportunities of ACCP observations to support air quality and disaster applications. The ACCP Webinar Series leads off with Advances in Aerosol Assimilation and Future Perspectives by Dr. Angela Benedetti, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. In a series of half-day virtual meetings (Nov 2 and Nov 4-5), this workshop focused on current applications and future opportunities of NASA precipitation and cloud data products to support transport and logistical activities for aviation, maritime, roads and highway transportation systems. This two-day workshop will focus on current applications and future opportunities for NASA precipitation, cloud, and aerosol satellite data and products to support numerical weather prediction (NWP) and air quality forecasting activities.