Topic:  GOES-16 and GOES-18 Software Build PR.13.02.00 Implementation

Date/Time Issued: November 8, 2023 1640 UTC

Product(s) or Data Impacted: GOES-16 & GOES-18 ABI Level 2 Aerosol Optical Depth and Derived Motion Winds products

Date/Time of Initial Impact: December 20, 2023

Date/Time of Expected End: N/A

Length of Outage: N/A

Details/Specifics of Change: On December 20, 2023, as part of the PR.13.02.00 software release, the Enterprise Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) and Enterprise Derived Motion Winds (DMW) algorithms will replace the baseline versions of those algorithms in the GOES-R Ground System. The Enterprise AOD and DMW algorithms were developed by the Algorithm Working Group (AWG) with the capability to process multi-spectral data from multiple sources. This means that the science code can ingest data from various platforms (GOES-R ABI, VIIRS, etc.) and produce sensor-specific products using a similar “Enterprise” approach. Information on the specific changes users can expect with the upgrade to each of these algorithms is provided below:

Enterprise Aerosol Optical Depth

The core science approach used in the GOES-R Enterprise AOD algorithm is the same as that used for VIIRS Aerosol products. The ability to retrieve AOD over bright surfaces and to provide AOD estimates of heavy aerosols, in addition to current retrievals over dark, vegetated surfaces, potentially increases spatial coverage and improves consistency between LEO and GEO retrievals. This changeover to the Enterprise AOD algorithm also updates the over-land aerosol models to be better suited for the GOES domain.

Enterprise Derived Motion Winds

The Enterprise Derived Motion Winds algorithm is fundamentally the same as the baseline winds algorithm, but some important data-handling updates have been introduced to the Enterprise Winds algorithm. The first update is the introduction of a check on the satellite zenith angle of each target scene.  Any target scene whose satellite zenith angle exceeds 70 degrees is discarded. The other updates include changes to the winds quality control: The first of these involves adding additional verifications for the input cloud phase; the second change adjusts the thresholds associated with the vector difference test that compares retrieved LWIR (ABI band 14) or Cloud-top water vapor (ABI band 8) winds against the NCEP GFS forecast wind.

The planned upgrade will not result in any outage or data loss to the products mentioned above. In the event of a Critical Weather Day declaration, the software update will be postponed.

Contact Information for Further Information: Please email Steve Superczynski at stephen.superczynski@noaa.gov; ESPC Operations at ESPCOperations@noaa.gov or 301-817-3880  24x7

Web Site(s) for applicable information: For a more detailed description of the Enterprise Aerosol Optical Depth and Enterprise Derived Motion Winds algorithms, users can refer to the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Documents below:

Enterprise Aerosol Optical Depth 

Enterprise Derived Motion Winds