Happening Now: NOAA operations in real time

Vegetation Health Index
NOAA satellites constantly update a global picture of the Earth's surface called the Vegetation Health Index, which can be used to monitor vegetation health, soil saturation, fire risk, growing season changes, desertification, and even the spread of mosquito-borne diseases. The above Vegetation Health index (VHI) map is a proxy characterizing vegetation health, or a combined estimation of moisture and thermal conditions. The VH (and other indicators) is often used to estimate crop condition and anticipated yield. If the indices are below 40, indicating vegetation stress, losses of crop and pasture production might be expected. If the indices are above 60, conditions are favorable and plentiful crop production may be expected.
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Soil Moisture Operational Product System (SMOPS)
The Global Soil Moisture Product System (SMOPS) is a combination of data from various satellites. Soil moisture has long been recognized as one of the critical land surface initial conditions for numerical weather, climate, and hydrological predictions, particularly for areas between arid and humid climate regions. The numerically-based data system uses microwave sensor data from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) on NASA EOS Aqua satellite, the soil moisture and Ocean Salinity mission of ESA, the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) on Metop-A of European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), and Soil Moisture Active/Passive mission of NASA. The system was developed in 2012 by the Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO). The SMOPS soil moisture products is currently provided to the National Weather Service and used in combination with other soil moisture retrial information for climate research, and in models to improve weather predictions and forecast accuracy.
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Soil Moisture from GCOM satellite
Continuous and significant patterns impacting societies and ecosystems are detected by comparing current conditions to those normally expected. Shown here is a plot of soil moisture throughout the globe acquired from the NASA Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) E satellite sensor from September 28 - October 2, 2011. Satellite-based soil moisture products, which include those from AMSR-E and the NOAA-NASA Suomi NPP satellite's Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS), are critical tools for both monitoring and predicting drought patterns.

Suomi NPP's Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) can measure sea and land surface temperatures, vegetation, ice and snow cover, cloud amount, dust, smoke and other environmental parameters. As it relates to droughts, VIIRS measurements are sensitive to the overall greenness and density of vegetation including surface temperature that gives a clearer picture of the intensity of drought.

Part of a partnership with NOAA's Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), NOAA receives soil moisture information measured by Japan Aerospace Exploration Age's (JAXA) Global Change Observation Mission (GCOM) AMSR-2 sensor. Scientists at NOAA's National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) will integrate the VIIRS and AMSR-2 information, along with other observations, to provide assessments and predictions on regional and global drought conditions

Drought monitor
Drought is one of the most costly natural disasters affecting the U.S. NOAA, in calibration with other government agencies, is helping to move society from a position of reactive response to drought to a more proactive stance. Data products produced by NOAA and other government agencies are used to assess current conditions and predict potential impacts of drought, allowing local and state-level decision makers to decide on drought mitigation activities ahead of time. The National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) forms the backbone of the U.S. National Drought Early Warning System. The NIDIS is used by government officials at all levels, farmers, the transportation and insurance industries, as well as commodities planning and investors to manage the risk and effects of drought conditions nationwide.

This map, produced by the NOAA National Climatic Data Center and the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center, approximates drought impacts responding to precipitation. The map shows data over the course of months and years showing information on reservoir content, ground water, and lake levers. However, the graph is not a literal interpretation since the relationship between indicators and water supplies can vary markedly with location, season, source, and management practice. The map is based on preliminary climate division data. The percentile chart shows the various drought intensity categories.