Implementation of Phase 3A (Hydrological, Radar, and Satellite Products) of the Plan to Update Communication Identification Headers has been delayed one week from November 3, 1998, to November 10, 1998. For complete and timely information on schedule changes, please visit the National Weather Service (NWS) Systems Operations Center Change Notices web page at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/oso/notices/notices.shtml.
The NWS will assign Universal Geographic Codes (UGC's) to all offshore waters forecast areas of responsibility effective December 1, 1998, at 1300 Universal Coordinated Time (UTC). Users selecting information by specific zones will need to use the new UGC's. A complete list of UGC's, Warning and Forecast headings, WMO Headings and NOAA Weather Wire Service Headers has been posted at: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/notif.htm.
The NWS National Transition Database staff has posted the entire county-zone data base for the NWS area of forecast responsibility in Excel (.xls) format by region on the web at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/cz.htm.
The staff hopes that this database will allow customers who use and retransmit NWS products to electronically associate warnings and severe weather statements until the unified geographic codes are unified for both types of products.
The NWS will issue shortly a Notice for Public Comment in the Federal Register on plans to change the threshold criteria for Severe Thunderstorm Warnings. However, as a reader of this illustrious electronic news screen, you are about to receive a privilege allegedly reserved for residents in key Illinois precincts at election time. You may vote early and often on the proposed changes before publication of the Federal Register Notice. First, point to the Office of Meteorology Internet Home Page "Hot Topics," http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/hotopics.htm. Review the Report of the Severe Thunderstorm Criteria Team. Then e-mail your comments to William Alexander, the NWS Severe Local Storms Program Manager (william.alexander@noaa.gov).
The big satellite news this week broke on October 27 when GOES began experiencing large attitude errors and discontinuous spikes in the momentum wheel electrical currents. Shortly thereafter, the satellite lost earth lock and ground controllers placed the spacecraft in the safe hold mode. The initial investigation revealed earth sensor data that was inconsistent with the true motion of the spacecraft. Engineers designed a test to check the earth sensor connection and data processor. The results indicated a normal connection, but the controllers decided to transition out of the safe hold mode using the redundant earth sensor at 2358Z on October 27th. Left on for further analysis, the primary earth sensor continued to produce "data spikes." GOES-8 was back to full operations with the redundant sensor on October 29th at 1145 UTC including rapid scan operations and a routine sounding/ imaging schedule. GOES-10 was returned to its routine imaging and sounding schedule at 18 UTC after covering for GOES-8 during the downtime. An excellent source for timely bulletins on GOES-8/9/10 spacecraft status is the NOAA Satellite Services Division Home page at http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/.
NOAA/NASA are continuing to investigate the possibility of accelerating the launch of GOES-L from June 1999 to early March 1999.
The National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) continues to incorporate GOES-8 moisture soundings into the regional ETA and RUC Forecast models. The AVN and MRF global models assimilate GOES-8 sounder radiances (temperatures). Meanwhile, GOES-10 soundings and radiances are under evaluation as a result of sounder filter uncertainties. By applying bias corrections to remove the filter function errors, NESDIS scientists have obtained results that indicate GOES 10 soundings are of equal accuracy as GOES-8. Both regional and global NCEP models assimilate GOES 8/10 high density cloud drift winds into the initial analyses.
Through the creation of innovative software such as Image Spreadsheet, NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center Laboratory for Atmospheres has created unique 3D visualizations of remotely sensed data derived from satellite imagery. A number of these images appeared on the covers of TIME and LIFE magazines. You can view a complete collection of the imagery including Hurricanes Mith and Georges by pointing your browser to:
GOES-8 experimental smoke and fire products from 02 September 1998 help to explain the occurrence of blue rain over northeastern Argentina. The September blue rain resulted from smoke and ash from forest fires to the north in Bolivia and Brazil. Images revealing these fires are available at the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies web site, http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/misc/980902_smoke.html.
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