Week one of the Winter Experiment at the AWC is nearly complete. It has been a very productive five days with some very neat presentations from our visitors, lots of discussion and exploration into our new datasets, and plenty of feedback. Check out some of the GOES-R related comments below:
WRF and NAM Synthetic Imagery (Bands 8-16 and 10.35 - 3.9)
- Many forecasters commented on the use of the synthetic imagery, particularly the water vapor (band 9), in identifying signatures associated with turbulence.
- It [WV] was 'very helpful in determining the building ridge and the shear zone' and also did a very good job showing the 'bumpiness and notches in the flow that are a good indication of a moderate to severe turbulence set up'.
- They were 'very, very impressed with the [WRF] simulated imagery and how well it ran'.
- Also they 'really liked this [WV] imagery' and '[the WV] really showed the turbulence signatures we were looking for'... this has been the consistent feedback that has been heard from forecasters throughout the entire week.
- There has also been notable utility found in the synthetic IR imagery in icing forecasts, particularly when the icing enhancement (highlighting cloud tops from 0 to -25C) is used in conjunction with the forecast imagery.
- The 10.35 - 3.9 was utilized on multiple days for cases of low clouds and was also used at the icing desk to identify areas of liquid clouds with tops below freezing.
GOES-R FIT and other tools
- 'As a forecaster, if you don't understand what's currently going on with the weather, how can you make an accurate forecast?' and on that note 'the FIT is a good diagnostic tool and is useful in increasing situational awareness'.
- It was 'useful further identifying the focus areas' and 'has potential'.
- Several forecasters noted that '[the FIT] was a little noisy' but did key in on the areas of higher icing probabilities.
- The Supercooled Liquid Drop (SLD) product, while noted to have some false alarms around the edges of clouds was described as a 'pretty cool analysis tool'.
- Icing tops and bases, while not performing as well in the west U.S, 'had a lot of potential' and were noted to be of use in identifying the thickness of icing layers.
GOES-R Fog and Low Stratus
- It was noted as 'an excellent diagnostic tool, doing a very good job in identifying current areas of concern.
- This product was of particular use at the NAM desk, where it is much more of a nowcasting focus and the main concern is typically low visibility and ceilings. It was used multiple times throughout the week identify areas of concern and fog dissipation rates.
- The cloud thickness was also 'a good diagnostic tool'
- Cloud phase was found to be helpful in icing forecasts and used in conjunction with the FIT, comparing areas of supercooled cloud tops with areas of potential icing.
Also notable was the discussion on our first day regarding the R to O effort of all products at the AWC. Multiple forecasters mentioned how much they appreciated the training materials provided for the GOES-R products and that the level of detail was exactly what they were looking for. So, kudos to all you folks out there who have dedicated their time to putting these great materials together!
Week one turned out very nicely and I'll look forward to reconvening next Tuesday (since the majority of our staff have Monday off) for week 2 of the experiment!
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