Happening Now: NOAA operations in real time

NCDC Winter Wrap Up
NOAA analyzes the current and past winter seasonal conditions to better understand the changing climate. NOAA scientists report that from December 2012 through February 2013, the average temperature for the contiguous U.S. was 34.4 degrees Fahrenheit (oF), which is 2.0°F above the 20th century average. This period is considered above the 20th century average marking for the 19th warmest winter on record. The February temperature for the contiguous U.S. was 34.8, 0.9°F above average. The NOAA National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) provides monthly climate reports to NOAA and the public. The NCDC reports are a part the suite of climate services NOAA provides to government, business, academia, and the community to support informed decision-making.

Flash-Flood prediction and warning
NOAA satellites provide flash flood warning products that help forecast offices’ in spring flood-prone regions alert the public. The image is of satellite precipitation estimates for Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa on March 10, 2013. In support of NOAA’s mission to protect life and property, the Satellite Analysis Branch (SAB) provides satellite based guidance along with quantitative satellite-derived precipitation estimates to the National Weather Service (NWS), forecast offices, and River Forecast Centers when heavy rain threatens to produce flash flooding over the lower 48 states, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii in support of NWS’ mission. SAB meteorologists also conduct daily briefings to forecasters from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Weather Prediction Center (WPC) for 6 hour Quantitative Precipitation Forecasts and satellite based guidance outlooks for heavy precipitation over the next 12 hours.

Land Based Instruments
NOAA satellites relay data from thousands of stream gauges and other land-based instruments across the hemisphere, allowing NOAA forecasters and others real-time data on river and flooding conditions in remote areas. The image is an example is an example of the data available Nationwide from 5,478 gauges that show river observations and forecast, as well as precipitation.

Enhanced Observations from Space
NOAA's next-generation of satellites will give us the ability to 'see' flooding happen in near real-time from space. Every product that is being produced from the current GOES imager will be vastly improved with data from the GOES-R Advanced Baseline Imager, or ABI. The ABI is the primary instrument on GOES-R for imaging Earth’s weather, climate, and environment. ABI will be able to view the Earth with 16 different spectral bands, including two visible channels, four near-infrared channels, and ten infrared channels. It will provide three times more spectral information, four times the spatial resolution, and more than five times faster temporal coverage than the current system. In the above May 2, 2011, image, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used explosives to breach a protective levee near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in an effort to spare Cairo, IL and other cities downstream. As predicted, the two-mile hole in the levee flooded 130,000 acres of nearby farmland in what is known as the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway.