External Engagement

1. External Engagement Presented by Ingrid Guch

2. Primary Types of External Engagement • User outreach and education • Helping others understand why our research is vital, relevant and useful, as well as how to apply results to specific activities • Research partnerships • Working with the national and international research community to accomplish mutual goals and solve complex, multidisciplinary problems under budgetary constraints

3. User Outreach and Education • Who are STAR (and operational counterparts) Primary Users? • Environmental Forecasters (Examples: National Weather Service Field Offices and Centers, National Climate Service) • Environmental Decision Makers (Examples: Chesapeake Bay Office managers, EPA, IPCC) • Educators, Media and General Public

4. Reaching STAR Users • Virtual Institute for Satellite Integration Training (VISIT) • Satellite Hydrology and Meteorology (SHyMet) course • Proving Grounds • Websites/subscriptions • Training and User Conferences • Environmental Visualization Lab Forecasters Decision Makers Educators Media General Public

5. Virtual Institute for Satellite Integration Training (VISIT) • Accelerating the transfer of research results into weather service operations. • Targets operational forecasters • Includes case studies and prediction exercises with satellite and radar data • Wide NOAA distribution via Department of Commerce E-learning VISIT has provided over 15,000 person-hours of training since 1999. STAR continues to provide new training sessions in VISIT.

6. Satellite Hydrology and MeteorologySHyMet Course Satellite imagery and products in the Forecast-to-Warning Process Understanding satellite imagery as observation • Remote Sensing fundamentals • GOES and POES Imaging and Sounding • GOES Imager routine scans and rapid scans: area coverage and time schedules • GOES Sounder scans: area coverage and image frequency • POES swaths: area coverage and image frequency • channels and products • simple identification: cloud types, cloud patterns, the earth's surface (land and water), atmospheric pollutants • Water Vapor Imagery - a great resource at many scales - synoptic to mesoscale • Preparing NOAA users for latest satellite data and products to help meet Government Performance and Results Act targets. • Leverages VISIT • Extensive intern and forecaster courses (subset of topics at right) • Open to non-NOAA

7. Proving Grounds • Sustaining interactions between satellite product developers and end users for training, evaluation, and feedback. • Daily sample products • Intensive experiments at testbed locations (Example: Spring GOES-R Hazardous Weather Test Bed experiment) Top Image: Sample GOES-R proving ground products Lower Image:: Hazardous Weather Test Bed

8. Websites/Subscription ServicesCoastWatch and OceanWatch Providing targeted near real time information from STAR products and applications CoastWatch and OceanWatch includes SST, Ocean Color and numerous other satellite-derived products * 4000 unique IP hits per month * Data is part of IOOS * Data is also provided via NESDIS Office of Satellite Data, Products and Distribution for NWS, NOS as requested CoastWatch/OceanWatch Regions CoastWatch/OceanWatch Users

9. Training ConferencesCoral Reef Watch Translating STAR’s scientific findings, applications and near real-time information into better decisions • Six “Responding to Climate Change” workshops conducted: • Australia and American Samoa (2007) • Florida Keys and Hawaii (2008) • Guam and Bonaire (2009) • Based on “A Reef Manager’s Guide to Coral Bleaching” • Trained 120+ coral reef scientists and managers on: • Climate change issues and impacts on coral reefs • Predicting mass coral bleaching • Assessing bleaching, resilience, and socio-economic impacts • Building resilience via MPAs and Response Plans • Communicating about bleaching events

10. Users Conferences6th Annual GOES Conference 3-5 November 2009 Monona Terrace Convention Center Madison, Wisconsin Providing targeted information about STAR products and applications and obtaining user feedback Annual GOES User’s Conference * Inform users on the status of the GOES-N and -R series constellation, instruments, and operations; * Seek ways/define methodologies to ensure user readiness for GOES-N and -R series; * Promote understanding for the various applications of data and products from the GOES-R series. “Bringing Environmental Benefits to a Society of Users" Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites: http://www.goes-r.gov

11. The NOAA Environmental Visualization Lab Average 60 products released to television media per year Discovery, PBS, History,NBC, CBS, Weather, etc. Multiple documentaries Main content provider tothe Science on a Sphereglobal network of over 45museums and centers Provided additional exhibitsupport to 27 othermuseums since 2006 www.nnvl.noaa.gov HD video productions, daily images, and data resources NOAA’s 2nd largest YouTube presence Active engagement in NOAA’s Education Council, National Science TeachersAssociation and AMS Mentor college interns and NOAA fellows 11

12. Visualization Lab Performance 12

13. Primary Types of External Engagement • User outreach and education • Helping others understand why our research is vital, relevant and useful, as well as how to apply results to specific activities • Research partnerships • Working with the national and international research community to accomplish mutual goals and solve complex, multidisciplinary problems under budgetary constraints

14. Importance of Partnerships • Science • STAR must be engaged with other national and international science communities in government, industry and academia to achieve its goals • Capacity Building – High potential for growth, development, and accomplishments • Scientific Expertise and Guidance – Working with best in field • Alignment with NOAA Research Plan • NOAA research is undertaken in partnership with the wider national and international research community, and NOAA continually seeks advice from that community to ensure its research remains vital and relevant.

15. Primary STAR Science Partners • Academia • National and International Organizations • Private Sector

16. STAR Partnerships • Academia – Partnerships needed to bridge theory and innovations with operational applications; provide access to top talent and scientifically trained students who are vital to our future • Competed universities and consortiums in broad theme areas (ex: CIs) • Competed grants for specific areas (ex: JCSDA FFO) • Visiting scientists and post-docs (ex: UCAR) On the next slides: A closer look (“mini-talk”) at STAR competed universities and consortiums (4 Cooperative Institutes and 1 Cooperative Science Center)

17. Organization of Cooperative Institutes and Cooperative Science Center STAR research areas, outreach and workforce planning are touched on by all CIs and CSC. Science areas chosen to match STAR organizational topics (satellite studies in meteorology, ocean and climate)

18. NESDIS Cooperative Institute Research Themes CIMSS (Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies) University of Wisconsin-Madison • Weather Nowcasting and Forecasting • Clouds and Radiation • Global Hydrological Cycle • Environmental Trends • Climate • Education, training & outreach CICS (Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites) University of Maryland North Carolina State University • Climate and Satellite Research and Applications • Climate and Satellite Observations and Monitoring • Climate Research and Modeling CIOSS (Cooperative Institute for Oceanographic Satellite Studies) Oregon State University • Satellite Sensors and Techniques • Ocean-Atmosphere Fields and Fluxes • Ocean-Atmosphere Models and Data Assimilation • Ocean-Atmosphere Analyses • Outreach, Education and Training CIRA (Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere) Colorado State University (Host NOAA Line Office is OAR) • Satellite algorithm development, training and education • Regional to Global Scale Modeling Systems • Data Assimilation • Climate-Weather Processes • Data Distribution Partnership valuedby both STAR and the University - both contribute financially and otherwise to administration of CIs

19. Centerfor Remote Sensing Science and Technology (NOAA-CREST) • Develops skilled leaders and technical experts focusing on remote sensing and technology research • Engages and excites general public and the next generation of students in NOAA-related sciences • Works to increase underrepresented minorities in NESDIS workforce • STAR and numerous STAR partners have hired CREST students (CIs, NESDIS OSD, NWS, NCDC and Private Sector) Partnership valued by NOAA: CREST receives annual funding (~$2M/yr) from NOAA Educational Partnership Program of which at least 30% goes directly to students working on projects, most of which have a STAR partner and all have a NOAA partner

20. 3 of 9 STAR branches collocated with CIs Close interactions make the partnerships productive for capacity building, scientific expertise and joint research

21. Types of STAR Engagement with CIs and CREST • Strategic: NOAA CI and NESDIS CI/CSC directors meetings • Ex: Powell (STAR), Ackerman (CIMSS), Strub (CIOSS), Brown (CICS-NC), Arkin (CICS-MD), Stephens (CIRA), and Khanbilvardi (CREST) have been coordinating efforts and improvements in: 1- Satellite CDRs, 2- Graduate-level education in remote sensing, 3 - Blended satellite algorithm research, 4 - Satellite data assimilation • Scientific: Symposiums for in-depth look at mutual science topics of interest • Ex: 2009 Extracting the Maximum Information from Remote Sensing Observations at NOAA-CREST – over 60 attendees from all CIs, CREST and STAR. 2010 Satellite Mesoscale Studies at CIRA (August) • Multidisciplinary: Exchanges for initiating scientific collaboration • Ex: 2009 STAR funded travel for approximately 10 students and early career scientists between STAR, CIs, and/or CREST • Collaborative: Numerous scientific and educational projects • Ex: 2009 approximately $17M went to CIs where we have collocated branches and significant collaboration (CIRA, CICS, CIMSS) • Electronic: Blog • Ex: December 2009 shows 5 jobs (3 NESDIS, 2 IMSG), 4 scholarship opportunities and 2 funding opportunities posted by STAR and close STAR partners(www.corpblogspot.org) Diverse interactions improve research and sustain scientific workforce

22. CI/CSC partnership summary • Significant STAR, NOAA and University efforts to further remote sensing research and applications • STAR approach to collaborations with CI/CSC is unique in NOAA • STAR collocates federal branches at CI/CSC locations as resources allow • CI/CSC annual symposium and exchanges target multidisciplinary research and focus on early-career scientists

23. STAR Partnerships Small sample from FY10 domestic travel log MOA’s in the works for FY10 • National and International – Needed to address national and global environmental and observing system issues • Coordinating committees and task forces • Ex (National) : • NASA, NPOESS and GOES-R Science Teams; • JCSDA; • USGEO and US Coral Reef Task Force • Scientific Programs and Projects • Ex (National) : • Chesapeake Bay monitoring and prediction; • NOAA Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program

24. STAR and Chesapeake Bay Regional Chlorophyll-a Product • MODIS data and algorithm specifically tuned for Chesapeake Bay Chlorophyll • NASA (GSFC), NOAA (NESDIS, NMFS, NOS), University of Maryland Horn Point Lab, Maryland and Virginia state environmental agencies are team members • Satellite product declared operational by the SPSRB in January 2009. As seen previously… http://coastwatch.noaa.gov STAR collaborations with regional partners influence NESDIS operations

25. STAR and HFIP As seen previously… 1000 plausible 5 day forecasts for Hurricane Bill starting at 0000 UTC on 21 Aug 2009 from a statistical ensemble model. STAR scientists participate in NOAA program designs and identify unique satellite contributions to complement work at other NOAA line offices • HFIP is new NOAA program to improve hurricane track and intensity forecasts • Emphasis on modeling, data assimilation, and ensemble forecasts • STAR providing model diagnostics, satellite verification data and ensemble forecast applications 25

26. STAR Partnerships – International • Scientific leadership in multilateral organizations such as • GEO, WMO, CEOS, CGMS • GOOS Panel for Integrated Coastal Observations • WMO Space Task Group for the International Polar Year • WMO Expert Panel on Polar Observations, Research, and Services • Scientific leadership in projects such as • Coral Reef Watch • WCRP Climate and Cryosphere Project • Participation in projects such as • Global Precipitation and Climatology Project • Canadian Space Agency's science team for the Polar Communications and Weather (PCW) satellite mission • Data/Information/Scientific Exchanges with colleagues (formal and informal) such as • NOAA/India Cooperation with ISRO and Ministry of Earth Sciences • NOAA/JAXA Earth Observation Joint Working Group • Roshydromet Bilateral • Ukraine MOU • CGMS International Precipitation Working Group • Training, technology transfer and technical assistance such as • GOES-10 over South America Excerpts from STAR international travel log STAR scientists lead and participate in numerous types of international activities

27. Example – GEO • STAR leads/co-leads 2 of the 11 GEO Communities of Practice • Cryosphere • Coastal Zone Scientific leadership in a multilateral organization

28. Example – GOES-10 Technology Transfer: GOES-10 was repositioned by NESDIS as part of GEOSS in Dec 2006 and remained until end of fuel life Dec 2009. CIMSS and STAR worked closely to assist South American countries in the use of GOES data. The remote sensing products from GOES-10 (left) and a training workshop organized by CIMSS (right) are shown above. Two of the five lecturers at the training workshop were from STAR. There were 33 participants from 12 countries at the workshop held in Nov 2007.

29. Example – Coral Reef Watch • Worldwide network of active data users and researchers focusing on coral bleaching. • Research collaborations have led to products that monitor coral reef health using remote sensing. • Australian Research Council / Australian Inst. of Marine Science • World Bank/Global Environment Facility • Project Aware • The Nature Conservancy • World Wildlife Fund Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Hoegh-Guldberg, H., Veron, J.E.N., Green, A., Gomez, E. D., Lough, J., King, M., Ambariyanto, Hansen, L., Cinner, J., Dews, G., Russ, G., Schuttenberg, H. Z., Peñaflor, E.L., Eakin, C. M., Christensen, T. R. L., Abbey, M., Areki, F., Kosaka, R. A., Tewfi k,A., Oliver, J. (2009). The Coral Triangle and Climate Change: Ecosystems, People and Societies at Risk. WWF Australia, Brisbane, 276 pp. STAR’s Coral Reef Watch has produced critical and widely used information and tools for coral reef managers and stakeholders A 30-year Precipitation Climatology (1979 – 2008)

30. STAR Partnerships 3. Private Sector - provides specialized scientific and systems/instrument engineering expertise • Competed science and technical contract in broad science areas, • participation in Small Business Innovation Research program, • commercial data buy investigations, • Harris/NGST interactions as allowed • Satellite Instrument Manufacturers

31. STAR and Private Sector SciTECH Competitive Contract – IMSG Lead Broad theme areas in SciTECH provide STAR with significant capacity SBIR-developed AXIB: New “Airborne eXpedable Ice Beacon (AXIB)” buoy that can be deployed by parachute and is designed to survive freeze up Above: SciTECH contractors key to success of Noaa PROducts Validation System (NPROVS)

32. Recent Developments • Ocean Color • Contributing to CEOS-GEOSS Ocean Colour Radiometry-Virtual Constellation (OCR-VC) - working to ensure ocean colour radiometry data continuity • STAR, Oceansat-2 community, CIOSS, NOS • NOAA Competitions • New CICS increases interactions with NCDC and a large group of universities. CREST is also a member of new CICS • New SciTech contract for STAR is being setup as a NOAA-wide resource per NOAA HQ request; and is model for new NOAA science contracts • National Calibration Center • STAR initiative gaining traction with NASA/NIST as key partner

33. Summary & Conclusions • A large number of close collaborations with academia, national and international communities and the private sector are critical for STAR to achieve its mission • Flexible Resources and Large Capacity – can respond to major changes such as GOES-R instrument suite reductions/additions, new National Climate Service and formation of JPSS to replace NPOESS • Nationally and Internationally recognized Scientific Expertise