Hyperspectral IR sounder data from U.S. (i.e., NASA’s AIRS and JPSS CrIS) and European (EUMETSAT’s IASI) sensors has proven to be one of the biggest observational contributors to improved model forecast skill at national and international operational Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) centers. In October 2019, the JCSDA launched a collaboration with the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) at the University of Wisconsin to support the assimilation of geostationary hyperspectral infrared data in the Joint Effort for Data assimilation Integration (JEDI) framework.

The Community Radiative Transfer Model (CRTM) allows us to make the best use of the billions of dollars spent on earth-observing satellites for operational data assimilation, calibration and validation, and post-processing applications. CRTM version 3.0 will extend the capabilities of CRTM v2.3, while maintaining backward compatibility; consequently, there will be very little operational risk to test or upgrade to CRTM v3.0.

The Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation (JCSDA) is pleased to announce that we are planning the first public, open-source release of the Joint Effort for Data assimilation Integration (JEDI) system this fall.

JCSDA's Joint Effort for Data assimilation Integration (JEDI) is an innovative, next-generation data assimilation system that leverages modern software development practices to optimize both performance and extensibility. As the software approaches its initial public release, the JEDI user community continues to grow in size and diversity. All this diversity means that users will want to run JEDI on a range of computing platforms, from state-of-the-art HPC systems (on-premise Supercomputers) to cloud instances, to small linux clusters to laptops. Containers to the rescue!

On May 26, 2020, NWS/NCEP started operational assimilation of the GNSS radio occultation (GNSS-RO) measurements from the FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 mission (COSMIC-2 hereafter) in its Global Forecast System (GFS).

This month the JCSDA is announcing a new Near-Real Time (NRT) observation monitoring web product based on the Joint Effort for Data assimilation Integration (JEDI). This product represents the achievement of several firsts for the JCSDA core team as we near our scheduled initial release of JEDI software.

How has the pandemic impacted data and observations from aircraft?

As you may already have noticed, the first real-time prototype application from the Sea-ice Ocean Coupled Assimilation (SOCA) project was launched on the JCSDA website this past January. The SOCA team has been actively partnering with NOAA and NASA to develop improved marine data assimilation methods for the next generation of prediction systems. This real-time system on the JCSDA website acts as a testbed for SOCA software development, and helps give the public an inside window as to how our development is proceeding.

The changes and uncertainty of the past few weeks have proved to be challenging for everyone. Through it all, the JCSDA community is going strong and standing together, providing support to each other wherever, and however, we can.

The JEDI Academy is a training session for new users of the Joint Effort for Data assimilation Integration (JEDI) data assimilation system for Earth System prediction. The 4th JEDI Academy was held last week (Feb 24-28, 2020) in Monterey, California.