STAR Joint Polar Satellite System Algorithms & Data Products website National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration website NOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research website
Suomi NPP VIIRS Polar Winds, 11/3/2015 - click to enlarge

Suomi NPP VIIRS Polar Winds, 11/3/2015 - click to enlarge

VIIRS Polar Winds

Team Lead: Jeff Key and Jaime Daniels

Product Description

VIIRS Polar Winds are derived by tracking clouds features in the VIIRS longwave infrared channel (Band M15, 10.8µm)

  • Wind speed, direction, and height are measured throughout the troposphere, poleward of approximately 65 degrees latitude, in cloudy areas only
  • Wind information is generated in both the Arctic and Antarctic regions
  • The product includes observation time, data quality flags, and metadata
  • The VIIRS Polar Winds product has been operational since May 2014
  • VPW is also generated at direct broadcast sites and delivered to NWP centers

Product and Data Access

Products and data:

EDR Long Term-Monitoring

Documentation

Wind information is generated in both the Arctic (NH) and Antarctic (SH) regions for

  • High-Level: 100-400 mb
  • Mid-Level:   400-700 mb
  • Low-Level:       > 700 mb

Users

NCEP, NRL/FNMOC, GMAO/JCSDA, UK Met Office, JMA, ECMWF, DWD, Meteo-France, CMC, BOM, EUMETSAT, Russian Hydrometcenter, CMA

Planned further improvements

  • The Enterprise cloud mask will be used
  • Spatial coverage will be increased by about 5° latitude