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STAR / SMCD / OPDB (Polar Products)

Purpose

This project provides research and development for the Advanced TOVS (ATOVS) system which derives Temperature and Moisture sounding products and Cloud and Radiation products, such as Cloud Top Temperature and Outgoing Longwave Radiation. Product images of the latest 24 hours can be viewed.

Another purpose is development of near-real time system for intercomparison of soundings product suites from multiple satellites, algorithms and agencies, called the NOAA PROducts Validation System (NPROVS).

NPROVS Overview of product suites processed

500 mb Temperature

ATOVS Soundings

The ATOVS series of NOAA weather satellites has three "atmospheric" sounders, the High- Resolution Infrared Sounder (HIRS), the Advanced Microwave Sounder Unit (AMSU) and the Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS). These sensors are used to derive operational Advanced TOVS (ATOVS) global sounding products for Temperature and Moisture.

Currently, the ATOVS is generating products from the NOAA-19 and MetOp-2 polar orbiting satellites. ATOVS derives global Temperature and Water Vapor profiles at 42 atmospheric pressure levels (1025 to 0.1 mb) levels.

Click the image to the right or use the left hand navigation bar to access global product images for 17 levels of temperature and 8 levels for moisture.

Cloud Top Pressure

ATOVS Cloud and Radiation products

The ATOVS system has been enhanced with new product algorithms for generating Cloud and Radiation type parameter suites. Like the sounding products, the Cloud and Radiation products are global, for both METOP-A and NOAA-19 and generated routinely in near-real time.

Example products are Cloud Amount, Clout Top Pressure/Temperature, Cloud Product Error, Outgoing Longwave Radiation and Layer Cooling Rate.

Click on the image to the right for more information and display of all Cloud and Radiation products.

NOAA PROduct Validation System (NPROVS)

NPROVS is a development utility operated at STAR which inter-compares multiple suites of derived sounding products (including ATOVS) against conventional radiosonde, dropsonde and weather forecast observations.

NPROVS produces daily collocation files and archives these files. The website displays pre-computed monthly and long term statistical summaries. User interface graphical packages were developed to easily display profile plots, distribution maps and statistical plots.

Click on the image to the right or on the left-hand navigation bar to enter the NPROVS portion of this site.