HR: 08:00h
AN: IN41B-01 INVITED    [Abstracts]
TI: An Unconventional Path Toward the Operational Leveraging of Research-Grade Environmental Satellites
AU: * Miller, S
EM: miller@cira.colostate.edu
AF: Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, CIRA-Foothills Campus Colorado State University 1375 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1375, United States
AU: Hawkins, J
EM: hawkins@nrlmry.navy.mil
AF: Naval Research Laboratory, 7 Grace Hopper Ave. MS#2, Monterey, CA 93943-5502, United States
AU: Turk, J
EM: turk@nrlmry.navy.mil
AF: Naval Research Laboratory, 7 Grace Hopper Ave. MS#2, Monterey, CA 93943-5502, United States
AB: The traditional and proper path followed in transitioning research applications to operational support entails a rigorous gamut of quality control, testing, validation, technical documentation, and software optimization. In times of dire need when observations are in high demand and resources are few, however, convention must sometimes give way to outside-of-the-box thinking. Here, considerations made for manageable compromises forge a pathway to accelerated transition of developing technologies. Such was the case in Coalition mobilizations immediately following the 9/11 attacks, when the United States Office of Naval Research issued a challenge to the environmental research and development community to expedite the delivery of any and all capabilities bearing support relevance to mission planners and executors involved in the increasingly likely military response. It was under this directive that the Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL) Satellite Meteorological Applications Section reconfigured its base research program and internal processing infrastructure to effectively transform itself into an agile operational production system for rapid transition of value-added satellite environmental characterization products centered around next-generation ‘research grade' satellite observing systems. Integral to this transformation was the coincident establishment of the Near Real-Time Processing Effort (NRTPE) coordinated among members of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Department of Defense (DoD; Air Force and Navy participants) working in a ‘badgeless environment'. The NRTPE provided a portal for acquisition of NASA's MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data at 2-4 hr latency worldwide. By virtue of NRTPE modifications to the Terra and Aqua satellite telemetry downlinks and transmission across the high-speed Defense Research/Engineering Network, data previously relegated to research-only pursuits suddenly became operationally viable for mission planning purposes. Through close coordination with Fleet Numerical Meteorology/Oceanography Center (FNMOC), NRL leveraged these NRTPE MODIS and other research satellite datasets to infuse unprecedented operational capabilities (e.g., dust detection, low clouds and fog, snow cover, natural color imagery)—making these and other products available on the ‘Satellite Focus' secure internet web page at precisely the time of highest need. Post deployment reports from aircraft carrier groups engaged in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) give testimony to the utility and impact of these resources. This paper describes the chain of events leading to an unlikely success story in the leveraging of research satellite data. Illustrative examples from Satellite Focus, as well as from the NexSat web page (public analog), are presented. The positive outcome of this activity suggests a new paradigm for future observing systems whereby operational utility is evaluated well in advance of their implementation on formal operational platforms. These demonstrations help users anticipate (and provide feedback to developers concerning) the capabilities and limitations of next-generation sensors—addressing in part the ‘missing link' between higher-risk research sensors and tried-and-true (off the shelf) technology appropriate for operational systems.
DE: 0305 Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801, 4906)
DE: 0540 Image processing
DE: 3360 Remote sensing
DE: 3394 Instruments and techniques
DE: 6309 Decision making under uncertainty
SC: Earth and Space Science Informatics [IN]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting