An Overview of the Science Performances and Calibration/Validation of Joint Polar Satellite System Operational Products

Abstract

The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite, launched in October 2011, initiated a series of the next-generation weather satellites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) program. The JPSS program at the Center for Satellite Applications and Research (JSTAR) leads the development of the algorithms, the calibration and validation of the products to meet the specified requirements, and long-term science performance monitoring and maintenance. All of the S-NPP products have been validated and are in successful operation. The recently launched JPSS-1 (renamed as NOAA-20) satellite is producing high-quality data products that have been available from S-NPP, along with additional products, as a direct result of the instrument upgrades and science improvements. This paper presents an overview of the JPSS product suite, the performance metrics achieved for the S-NPP, and the utilization of the products by NOAA stakeholders and user agencies worldwide. The status of NOAA-20 science data products and ongoing calibration/validation (Cal/Val) efforts are discussed for user awareness. In addition, operational implementation statuses of JPSS enterprise (multisensor and multiplatform) science algorithms for product generation and science product reprocessing efforts for the S-NPP mission are discussed.