The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) have carried a number of instruments used by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., for weather and climate research. The operational system consists of two polar-orbiting satellites. One crosses the equator at  roughly 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. local solar time; the other satellite crosses the equator at roughly 2:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. local solar time. Data from the NOAA spacecraft are used by researchers within NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise to study the Earth’s land, oceans, atmosphere, ice and life as a total integrated system.

Joel Susskind and co-workers in the Goddard Laboratory for Atmospheres Sounder Research Team have developed improved methodology to analyze the TOVS data which provide more accurate atmospheric temperature and moisture distribution than those produced operationally. They also use the TOVS data to determine land/ocean surface temperature and information about clouds, precipitation and ozone. They have produced a multi-year satellite product data set which they and other scientists have been using to study climate variability and climate processes with particular interest in the effects of El Niño on tropical circulation and precipitation patterns. NOAA-L will also carry ATOVS as well as SBUV-2 (Solar Backscatter Ultra Violet 2).

P.K. Bhartia and co-workers at Goddard’s Laboratory for Atmospheres Chemistry and Dynamics Branch have been using Solar Backscatter Ultra Violet (SBUV2) data to study details about ozone variability and trends, particularly with regard to the ozone hole. This instrument has only flown on the satellites that operate in 1:30 a.m./p.m. local time orbit. NOAA-15 did not carry the SBUV-2 instrument because it requires sunlight and the sun is too low on the horizon in a 7:30 a.m./p.m. local crossing time orbit to produce good ozone products.

Bill Lau and colleagues at Goddard’s Laboratory for Atmospheres Climate and Radiation Branch have done extensive research with sea surface temperatures and Outgoing  Longwave Radiation (OLR) derived from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data to study seasonal to interannual variability of the coupled ocean atmosphere system, particularly with regard to effects of El Niño on the global circulation. Yoram Kaufman, working with Bill Lau, has also developed new methodology to monitor aerosol distribution and biomass burning from AVHRR data. AVHRR has flown on all POES satellites and will fly on NOAA-L. NOAA-L will be renamed NOAA-16 after achieving orbit.