This morning the National Weather Service (NWS) Operations Proving Ground (OPG) began a 6-week evaluation of 1-minute satellite imagery, a normal operating capability of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-R Series. The overarching goal of the evaluation will be to provide quantitative and qualitative guidance to NWS management and the GOES-R Program Office on how 1-minute satellite imagery impacts NWS forecaster decision making in a variety of weather situations.
In total, eighteen participants from NWS Forecast Offices across the country will each complete seven simulations that were developed using satellite imagery collected during the 2013 and 2014 GOES-14 Imager Super Rapid Scan Operations for GOES-R (SRSOR) experiments. In all simulations, participants will provide feedback on how satellite imagery affects decision making processes, situational awareness, confidence, workflow, and workload. Furthermore, in three of the simulations, the forecasters will be split into two groups where one set is given 1-minute imagery and the other set is 5-minute imagery. This unique dataset will allow the OPG staff to investigate if 1-minute satellite imagery had added value when compared to 5-minute imagery for these cases.
Once completed in early April, OPG staff will write a report summarizing the statistical analysis and forecaster feedback that was gathered during the evaluation. In addition, results will be presented at the upcoming 2015 National Weather Association and 2016 American Meteorological Society Annual Meetings.