EUMETSAT plans to transfer all operational missions from Meteosat-5 to Meteosat-6 on February 13, 1997. Specifically, on February 13, the last image scanned by Meteosat-5 will occur at 0800 U.C. and the first image scanned by Meteosat 6 will tentatively occur at 0900 U.C.. (The 0830 U.C. image will not be available due to the transfer operation). It is possible that the 0900 U.C. and 0930 U.C. images will not be available following the satellite switch.
Furthermore, following the restart of Meteosat-6, imagery for the first six hours will be navigated based on orbit predictions only. As a result, image rectification will be affected during this period.
To ensure quality data receipt following the transfer of operations to Meteosat 6, U.S. users of digital Meteosat data via DOMSAT are advised to make the necessary changes to their ground receiving stations. For accurate calibration, radiance to temperature conversion tables designed for Meteosat-6 infrared detectors should be used. These conversion tables are available at http://psbsgi1.nesdis.noaa.gov:8080/noaasis.html. The tables are located under the calibration header.
Finally, the satellite identifier will change in the header block to reflect Meteosat-6 operations. The digital encryption scheme and the dissemination schedule will not be modified.
Fictitious clouds were found in the central U.S. on January 21, 00UTC in the sounder cloud clearing algorithm. Consequently, no GOES retrievals were processed in this region. In addition, the insertion of the clouds drastically affected the moisture analysis in the Central Plains. Further investigation revealed that the problem was two-fold: first the surface regression file was not updated the previous two days due to an indexing error, and , second, the synoptic situation was extreme with rapid cooling due to the dry airmass. This cooling proved too extreme for the simple heating/cooling model within the cloud/clear subroutine. This problem was mitigated by updating the regression coefficient subroutine.
Visualization of GOES 8/9 Sounder data via a high resolution 5 dimensional data set shows actual GOES 8/9 brightness temperatures along with model forecast 3 dimensional weighting function fields. The visualization will be featured at the Long Beach AMS annual meeting in the Electronic Theater.
The National Weather Service Technology Conference has been officially scheduled for April 15-18, 1997. This important meeting will be held at the Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W. This meeting will examine the effective distribution of weather information critical to the safety and welfare of the public. Through the use of emerging technologies, the NWS aims to improve dissemination capabilities into the next century. A preliminary agenda, conference announcement and registration form will be available on the Internet on or about January 31, 1997 at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/conferences/dtc/.
The Federal Aviation Administration did not meet the scheduled December commissioning dates for WSR-88D radars at Anchorage and Fairbanks Alaska. New commissioning dates have yet to be set.
Radar Data Interface and Data Distribution Systems (RIDDS) equipment has been installed on 16 WSR-88Ds and installation is planned for 17 additional radars. RIDDS is the system that allows access to wideband NEXRAD data. For a list of these sites e-mail: Michael.Carelli@noaa.gov.
