Featured NewsAugust 6, 2024 GOES SUVI Instrument Captures Solar FlaresThe STAR GOES imagery team used data from the GOES-East Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) instrument to create this fascinating image showing a coronal mass ejection (CME) and subsequent strong solar flares observed on August 3. The SUVI instrument allows forecasters to monitor the Sun's hot outer atmosphere, or corona. Read more about SUVI and NOAA's solar weather observations: 
July 25, 2024 Biden-Harris Administration Advances Wildfire Detection by Expanding Use of SatellitesA collaborative agreement for use of NOAA satellites will help the Interior and Agriculture Departments detect wildfires early, track wildfires in real time, and provide data for public safety and air quality modeling. Supported by a $20 million investment from the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law - $10 million each from Interior and Agriculture - this new agreement will use advanced remote sensing capabilities to improve the speed and accuracy of wildfire detection. Agreement signatories: 
April 16, 2024 NOAA Confirms 4th global coral bleaching eventThe world is currently experiencing a global coral bleaching event, the fourth global event on record and the second in the last 10 years. "From February 2023 to April 2024, significant coral bleaching has been documented in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres of each major ocean basin," said Derek Manzello, Ph.D., NOAA Coral Reef Watch coordinator. 
February 5, 2024 New Product Shows Promise for Methane Monitoring“The potential for this technique is enormous,” — Shobha Kondragunta, STAR This new geostationary data product has great potential to improve our ability to monitor methane emissions, which are second only to carbon dioxide in warming effects. The technique was introduced in a recent paper by Harvard scientists. 
January 18, 2024 Pavolonis Quoted in Wildfire Detection ArticleArtificial Intelligence (AI) is a force-multiplier in detection efforts Dr. Michael Pavolonis, NESDIS Wildland Fire Program Manager was quoted in an article by Meteorological Technology Today titled “How are drones, satellites and AI models working together to predict fires and save lives?” 
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AI and satellite imaging doing early wildfire detection in ColoradoJuly 30, 2024 - This week the Denver Post reports on a new artificial intelligence program — the Next Generation Fire System — which will help identify wildfires as small as an acre by scanning images taken by weather satellites orbiting about 22,000 miles above the Earth’s surface. NOAA officials say it can process the deluge of data from the satellites — which capture images as frequently as every 30 seconds — and detect heat from fires smaller than a football field. The program then flags potential new fires to a dashboard so humans can check the images and verify the existence of a fire. While humans are great at detecting a new fire from satellite images, they can’t process the firehose of data as quickly and easily as the AI program, said STAR's Mike Pavolonis, NOAA Satellites’ Wildland Fire Program manager. Read more in the Denver Post story. 
Forecasters test new way to warn people near wildfiresJuly 27, 2024 - The Washington Post reports on testing of the Next Generation Fire System during a historic spate of wildfires in the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma in February. During the outbreak, local meteorologists had been training on this new way to warn people about fast-spreading fires. As relentless winds spread flames through tinder-dry grass and brush, the National Weather Service issued 20 “Fire Warnings,” to let people know about fires’ locations and where they were moving. More than 400 structures were destroyed and two people were killed in those fires, though the warnings may have helped prevent further impact. Read more in the Washington Post story. |