Registration Now Open for the 2023 JCSDA Technical Review Meeting and Science Workshop

The annual JCSDA Technical Review Meeting and Science Workshop enables scientists partnering with JCSDA and the external research community to share the latest developments in satellite data assimilation, particularly as they relate to the status of JCSDA priorities and projects.

As announced in early March, the 19th JCSDA Technical Review Meeting and Science Workshop will be held during the week of May 16 - 18, 2023.

Registration is now open with a registration deadline of April 17, 2023 for all prospective attendees.

Please visit the meeting page for more information and details on how to register for this event.

We look forward to your participation in May, and appreciate your ongoing support and interest in the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation. 

Exciting opportunity to be part of the NOAA WPO WINGS mentorship network

The Weather Program Office (WPO) Innovations for Next Generation Scientists (WINGS) Dissertation Fellowship will develop and foster the next generation of STEM scholars with the goal of bolstering the future workforce of America’s Weather Enterprise. During our first year, the fellowship will support PhD candidates completing their dissertation research in an area of scientific importance to the Earth Prediction Innovation Center (EPIC) and Unified Forecast System (UFS). 

We are excited to announce that our inaugural cohort of fellows will be selected later this Spring and we are interested in building a mentoring network for our fellows. If you would like to join our mentoring network, please complete this short google form. 

Thank you for your consideration, and here’s some additional information to help you decide if you should sign up: 

• If I join this list, am I committed to serving as a mentor? Absolutely not! Adding your name to our mentoring network does not commit you to serve as a mentor for a WINGS Fellow. It just means that you’re open to connecting with one of our fellows and considering the potential to become their mentor.

• What happens after I complete the form? Your name will be published on the WINGS website so potential fellows can explore mentorship connections. Before formally serving as a mentor, you will be contacted by the WINGS team to seek your formal agreement. The WINGS team will also work with you to develop a mentor action plan for your fellow. 

• What is the expected time commitment? WINGS Fellowships will be awarded for two years with the possibility of a one-year extension. The weekly time commitment will vary from fellow to fellow and will be determined by both of you within your mentoring action plan. Generally, you can expect to spend about an hour a week with your mentee.

• Does serving as a mentor add me to their dissertation committee? No, it does not. 

• What is expected of a mentor? Formal expectations will be developed between you and your mentee in a mentor action plan. While this can vary based on individual and project needs, we expect that mentors on this list will primarily provide technical expertise. 

• What expertise are you looking for? The first year of the WINGS Dissertation Fellowship is focused on EPIC/UFS and we’re seeking mentors in Data Assimilation; Atmospheric Physics; Systems Architecture (coupling, workflow, continuous integration and development); Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence; and Software Engineering to advance numerical weather prediction. If you have expertise related to any UFS Applications, that would also be wonderful! We hope to offer more diverse project options in the future, so even if you’re not an expert in one of these areas but are interested in being a mentor, please sign up! 

• Do I have to work for NOAA or be a federal employee? No! Working for NOAA is not a requirement and neither is being a federal employee. We welcome mentors from the federal government, academia, non-profit organizations, and the private sector. 

• Am I required to have a PhD? No, a PhD is not required for WINGS mentors. 

• Who can I contact with questions? If you have additional questions please contact Kate Rodd (krodd@ucar.edu), Cindy Bruyere (bruyerec@ucar.edu), or Maoyi Huang (maoyi.huang@noaa.gov).

Save the Date for the 2023 JCSDA Technical Review Meeting and Science Workshop

We are pleased to announce the 19th JCSDA Technical Review Meeting and Science Workshop will be held at UCAR's Center Green facility in Boulder Colorado on May 16 - 18, 2023. The annual JCSDA Technical Review Meeting and Science Workshop enables scientists partnering with JCSDA and the external research community to share the latest developments in satellite data assimilation, particularly as they relate to the status of JCSDA priorities and projects.

The last meeting, held virtually in 2021, saw more than 200 registered participants with attendance upwards of 150 guests each day.

This three-day event will consist of oral presentations, poster sessions, and a multitude of informal discussions covering all related JCSDA projects. The JCSDA looks forward to building on the success of the 2019 and 2021 workshops.

More information on the logistics and how to register will become available soon.

We look forward to your participation in May, and appreciate your ongoing support and interest in the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation. 

JCSDA Announces the Third Public Release of SKYLAB

The JCSDA is pleased to announce the release of SkyLab 3.0!

JCSDA SkyLab 3.0 is the third roll-up release that provides integrated Earth System Data Assimilation capability, via a unified end-to-end system that includes a single code build, workflow, data store, and diagnostics dashboard https://skylab.jcsda.org. Advanced capabilities are demonstrated for multiple components of the Earth System: atmosphere, ocean, sea-ice, soil moisture, snow, and composition.

The main Skylab upgrades for release 3.0 include:
Atmosphere-land experiment: Non-cycling 25 member 3D-Var EDA with static B and deterministic 3D-Var with hybrid B. More observation types (Ship, Buoy, Commercial GNSS-RO).
Composition experiment: Aerosol data assimilation (AOD) 3DVar EDA with 21 members. VIIRS assimilated, MODIS monitored.   

Support extended on the following systems: AWS AMI, NASA Discover, NOAA Orion, University of Wisconsin S4, NCAR Cheyenne.  

SkyLab has been developed by the JCSDA with contributions from its Partner Agencies in NOAA, NASA, the US Air Force, and the US Navy.

To read more about the release, links to the code, release notes and tutorials, visit www.jcsda.org/jediskylab 

Preliminary demonstration of JCSDA readiness for JPSS-2 ATMS

The JPSS-2 was successfully launched November 10, 2022.  Pre-Beta data from the ATMS sensor was released by NOAA to early adopters beginning 15Z on 21Nov2022.  Data pulls began at JCSDA on November 22,  and the results were produced in an automated cycling framework beginning on November 28.  With the successful early work of the calibration and validation team, the JCSDA implemented near real time monitoring of the ATMS sensor 18-days post launch.   Early analysis has focused on the first-guess departures of the observations from ATMS NOAA-21 against simulations from the NOAA Unified Forecast System (UFS) operational model background obtained via Amazon Web Services (AWS) S3 buckets. ATMS radiance simulation uses the Community Radiative Transfer Model (CRTM).  The results of this are shown on the demonstration page (https://demo.jcsda.org).  

The preliminary analysis shows no significant anomalous or unexpected behavior.  We look forward to these and further examinations leading to a rapid promotion of ATMS NOAA-21 (JPSS-2) from provisional status.

Thanks:  This was facilitated by approval of early adopter status for JCSDA, for which we would like to thank Lihang Zhou from the JPSS Program Office, Steve Milinovich of NOAA/CLASS, and Ninghai Sun and Quanhua (Mark) Liu of NOAA/NESDIS/STAR.   We would also like to thank Andrew Collard and Emily Liu of NOAA/NWS for their recommendations on preliminary examination of the data. 

JCSDA Announces the Second Public Release of JEDI-SkyLab

The JCSDA is pleased to announce the release of SkyLab 2.0!

JCSDA SkyLab 2.0 is the second roll-up release that provides integrated Earth System Data Assimilation capability, via a unified end-to-end system that includes a single code build, workflow, data store, and diagnostics dashboard https://skylab.jcsda.org. Advanced capabilities are demonstrated for multiple components of the Earth System: atmosphere, ocean, sea-ice, soil moisture, snow, and composition. 

The main Skylab upgrades for release 2.0 include:
Atmosphere-land experiment: non-cycling EDA with FGAT-3DEnVar. More observation types (Synop, METAR, ASCAT, CrIS, IASI, Commercial GNSS-RO). Satellite bias correction. Upgrade to CRTM 2.4.
Marine experiment: non-cycling 3DVar. New instruments (sea ice concentration retrievals, and insitu temperature and salinity profiles)
Composition experiment: H(x) monitoring. New observations (TROPOMI NO2, and MOPITT CO, Aerosol Optical Depth from VIIRS and MODIS)
Support extended to support NOAA Orion, NASA Discover, University of Wisconsin S4, and AWS AMI.

SkyLab has been developed by the JCSDA with contributions from its Partner Agencies in NOAA, NASA, the US Air Force, and the US Navy.

Links to the code, release notes, and tutorials can be found on www.jcsda.org/jediskylab