An Introduction to Satellite-Based Applications and Research for Understanding Climate Change - Satellite-based Applications on Climate Change - page 6

satellite products, the need for specialization in specific areas of endeavor, and the
expanding interest in new or improved satellite and model forecast capabilities
mean that today's satellite scientists, product specialists, and the climate commu-
nity are collaborating more than any point in the past. Future expectations include a
greater and more rapid information exchange.
Partnerships similar to ones described in the various coordinating organizations
foster the continuation of the original principles listed in the two publications cited
earlier, for example, to train and educate others about the satellite measurements
and the products with the result being (a) the development of new satellite-based
concepts and (b) a better understanding of the dynamics of our planet as reflected in
the atmosphere, the oceans, on the land, and in space.
1.4 Modern Satellite Era
Twenty-five years after the first environmental satellites, the scientific roles
changed. Kidder and VonderHaar emphasized providing satellite-derived “opera-
tional products” to users over the research or experimental products. The commu-
nity of users had expanded greatly thanks to a plethora of satellite-based products
and services that provided capabilities which had become routinely used.
Today, approximately 45 years after the first ESSA satellites, one can see
animating loops of satellite images routinely on the television weather broadcasts.
Users can obtain specialized satellite-derived products that display the cloud
patterns, vegetation indices, sea surface temperatures, cloud track winds, snow
cover, precipitation, and over 450 other specialized satellite-based products that
help decision makers mitigate the impacts of the weather and climate on the
economy. Users can obtain these satellite products freely from the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Environmental Satellite Data
and Information Service (NESDIS), and other international centers around the
globe. Near real-time updates about the status of instruments used by NOAA
operationally can be found at http://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/icvs/ .
The modern satellite and environmental scientists are becoming specialists in
particular niche areas like winds, precipitation, vegetation, crop yields, drought
identification, satellite data assimilation into the forecast models, and satellite calibra-
tion. As the satellite capabilities advanced, ensuring the stability of the instruments
and tracking their individual calibration contributed to the higher-fidelity satellite
products developed by the mid-1990s. Today, the problem of satellite calibration
continues to evolve and has become more complex. It involves not only the United
States constellation of operational environmental satellites but the environmental
satellite data from our international partner's satellites as well as the National Aero-
nautics and Space Administration's (NASA) environmental research satellites. Satel-
lite calibration has grown into a specialized field where the calibration is no longer
ensuring the accuracy of individual satellite instruments but a calibrated constellation
of satellites and their instruments. To support our understanding of climate, instrument
stability and cross-satellite calibration have become essential components for