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Proving Ground
| What . . . is the Proving Ground? |
The Proving Ground is a collaborative effort between the GOES-R program office, cooperative institutes, weather forecast offices, NCEP National Centers, and NOAA Testbeds across the country. The Proving Ground is a project in which simulated GOES-R products can be tested and evaluated before the GOES-R series of satellites are launched into space. The simulated GOES-R products are generated using combinations of currently available GOES data, along with higher resolution data provided by instruments on polar-orbiting satellites such as MODIS on NASA’s Aqua and Terra satellites as well as model synthetic satellite data.
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The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R) project engages the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast and warning community in preoperational demonstrations of selected capabilities anticipated from the next generation of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) geostationary earth observing systems.
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Want more information or to get involved?
Please contact:
GOES-R Program Office
Code 417
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771
301-286-1355 |
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Jim Gurka james.gurka@noaa.gov
Steve Goodman steve.goodman@noaa.gov |
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| Why . . . is there a Proving Ground? |
The Proving Ground was established to realize the benefits of the GOES-R system as soon as the satellites are launched and operational. GOES-R will mark the first major technological advances in geostationary observations since 1994. The advances include improvements upon existing data such as increased spatial, temporal, and spectral resolutions for Earth monitoring and improved space weather observations and initiation of new operational observations such as lightning mapping.
Many of the GOES-R products will be aimed at monitoring severe weather and helping forecasters issue earlier, more accurate severe weather warnings. In order to create the most useful severe weather tools possible, the GOES-R Proving Ground is working closely with the Experimental Forecast Program and the Experimental Warning Program of the NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed, developing and utilizing experimental GOES-R products to determine their utility in monitoring and forecasting severe convective weather.
The goals of the proving ground are: training forecasters to use new products, identifying different utilities of each product, identifying weaknesses or errors with each product, and user-feedback development. |
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| How . . . will the Proving Ground accomplish its goals? |
The Proving Ground brings together NOAA and its partners to bridge the gap between research and operations and provide a rich source of information contributing to user education and training on GOES-R applications through:
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Utilizing current systems (satellite, terrestrial, or model/synthetic) to emulate various aspects of future GOES-R capabilities |
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Infusing GOES-R products and techniques into the NWS operational environment, with emphasis on the Advanced Weather Information Processing System (AWIPS) and transitioning from AWIPS-I ("AWIPS Legacy") to AWIPS-II ("AWIPS Migration") |
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Engaging in a two-way dialogue to provide feedback to the developers from the users |
Products currently being tested in the Proving Ground: Vegetation Index, Land Surface Temperature. Total Precipitable Water, Cloud Top Phase, Cloud Top Temperature, Total Ozone, Total Lightning, Sea Surface Temperature, Convective Initiation, Winds, Low Cloud and Fog, and Snow and Ice Cover. For more information, please visit the Proving Ground Products website. |
| Intended outcomes are Day-1 readiness and maximum utilization for both the developers and users of GOES-R products, and an effective transition to operations.
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| Example: Understanding and Predicting Tornadoes |
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The Proving Ground worked closely with NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center and the VORTEX2 project in the spring of 2009, using the experimental products (such as the convective initiation product and lightning product) in real severe weather situations. By using these experimental products in real-time, the Proving Ground was able to expose severe weather forecasters to the new forecasting capabilities and gain valuable feedback, as well as build forecaster confidence, for each new severe weather product. For more information, please visit NOAA’s VORTEX website. |
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| Who . . . is involved and where? |
GOES-R Proving Ground Partners:
The following U.S. map provides a visual representation of the different areas that are working on the proving ground for GOES-R. |
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| For more information on Proving Ground partners or to obtain a print copy, click here. |
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Partners in Severe Weather Forecast and Warning:
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