NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

CLASS News 2006-2002

(11-07-06) Reported File Sizes in units of Bytes
(10-25-06) European Space Agency's MetOp-2
(08-04-06) CLASS Release 4.1 fall 2006
(09-07-06) NOAA-12 & NOAA-14 - discontinue archiving 10/6/06
(06-21-06) GOES-11 replaced GOES-10 as the western GOES satellite
(05-25-06) Completed Historical Ingest of SBUV Data
(05-23-06) Completed Ingest of GOES from Data 1994 to Present
(05-22-06) CLASS Release 4.0.3 Notes
(05-22-06) CLASS Option to Deliver Orders on Physical Media
(05-05-06) CLASS Release 4.0 Notes March 7, 2006
(05-05-06) 2nd CLASS Users Conference 2006
(8-05-02) CoastWatch Subscription Service
(1-24-02) Stabilization of NOAA-14 GAC

Present | 2008 - 2007 | 2006 - 2002

(11-07-06) Reported File Sizes in units of Bytes

CLASS version 4.1.2 released 11-1-06 now lists file sizes in bytes on the shopping cart page and in the email confirmations.

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(10-25-06) European Space Agency's MetOp-2

The European Space Agency's MetOp-2 was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:28 p.m. EDT, On October 19th aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket, becoming Europe's first of a new generation of weather satellites orbiting in a sun-synchronous orbit around the poles. MetOp is designed to deliver low Earth orbit data that will improve weather forecasting and monitor climatic changes. After undergoing several days of testing, the satellite will become operational under the control of EUMETSAT, in coordination with the U.S. Polar Operational Environmental Satellite system, managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NOAA satellites are deployed in "afternoon" orbits -- always crossing the equator during the afternoon, local time -- while MetOp-2 will take up service in a "morning" orbit. MetOp-2 has a payload of new-generation European instruments, plus a set of heritage instruments provided by the United States similar to those flown on current the NOAA polar-orbiting satellites. NOAA and EUMETSAT will operate and control their respective polar-orbiting satellites and ground segments. However, data collected by all the satellites will be shared and exchanged between NOAA and EUMETSAT. Under the Initial Joint Polar-orbiting Operational Satellite System (IJPS) agreement between NOAA and EUMETSAT, both parties will cooperatively provide blind orbit coverage and emergency support for global data retrieval as well as for command and telemetry services.

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(08-04-06) CLASS Release 4.1 fall 2006

CLASS Release 4.1 will be available this fall, 2006. Here is a list of major enhancements the new version will contain.

* Search and delivery for historical GOES-AAA and GOES AA data. This will encompass data as early as 1981 on GOES04.
* Enable OPeNDAP server for support of derived product data that is stored in netCDF format.
* Assorted enhancements to data integrity checks.
* Assorted web interface improvements; especially in the order query page.
* Anonymous data download using http.
* Allow push subscribers to manage their subscriptions via web interface.
* Ingest and delivery of MODIS Level 0 data (demonstration project).

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(09-07-06) NOAA-12 & NOAA-14 - discontinue archiving 10/6/06

October 6, 2006 CLASS will no longer receive NOAA-12 and NOAA-14 satellite data. This is due to an upcoming hardware change at the data provider's facility. If you need to continue receiving these data, please follow this link to the NOAA Satellite Information Services to obtain a list of receiving equipment from reliable commercial vendors. All data collected and archived in CLASS will remain available for online ordering.

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(06-21-06) GOES-11 replaced GOES-10 as the western GOES satellite

On June 21st, 2006 at approximately 1600 UTC GOES-11 stepped in to replace the aging GOES-10 satellite, which has served quite admirably since its operational start way back on July 21, 1998. GOES-11 was launched in August 2000 and was kept in cold storage (in orbit) until it was activated for continuous duty. Except for the fact that GOES-11 has some design changes from the previous GOES series, users will not be aware of any changes to the quality and quantity of GOES data.

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(05-25-06) Completed Historical Ingest of SBUV Data

SBUV data is now available in CLASS from 1984 through present. The original data from the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Spectral Radiometer (SBUV/2), flown on the NOAA Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES), are now available online for the entire period of record: 1984 to the present.

The purpose of the SBUV instrument is to measure the solar irradiance and earth radiance in the near ultraviolet spectrum. From these data, the following atmospheric properties can be deduced:
1. The global and vertical distribution of stratospheric ozone
2. The structure and dynamics of stratospheric ozone
3. Photochemical processes and the influence of "trace" constituents on the ozone layer.
4. Long-term solar activity in the Ultraviolet spectrum.

Usable data can only be collected by the SBUV when it is integrated onto an afternoon spacecraft due to solar angle requirements. For more information on the instrument and the dataset description. please go to the NOAA KLM User's Guide - section 3.8.

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(05-23-06) Completed Ingest of GOES from Data 1994 to Present

Now available in CLASS are all satellite data from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) from late 1994 to the present. This includes data captured by GOES-8, GOES-9, GOES-10 and GOES-12. The data can be previewed and ordered online for free delivery via ftp or shipped to you on CD/DVD disks or tapes for a nominal cost. The total volume now online is approximately 117 Tb, which covers about 61% of the entire GOES archive in terms of volume. CLASS's next goal is to complete ingesting the older GOES data from GOES-7 and earlier. The estimated date of completion is by early part of 2007.

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(05-22-06) CLASS Release 4.0.3 Notes

This CLASS release promoted 4/22/06 includes the following capabilities:
1) Ingest and distribution of SeaWIFS Level 1A data. Users can find this data under the Ocean Color SeaWIFS Products (OC) tag on the drop-down product list. Previous to this release, only SeaWIFS level 2 products were available. Level 2 products are available only for the period from September 1997 to September 2003. Level 1A products are available from December 2004 to the present. SeaWIFS data prior to September 2003 is available to all CLASS users. However SeaWIFS data from December 2004 to the present is restricted to US civil marine operational applications. Questions regarding access should be directed to Kent Hughes, CoastWatch Program Manager.
2) Ingest and distribution of Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Radiometer-2 (SBUV/2) data. Users can find this data under the SBUV/2 tag on the drop-down product list. CLASS will start receiving current SBUV/2 data and will start a reclamation process to archive and make historical data available. We will post progress on the SBUV/2 data reclamation activities in this news page.

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(05-22-06) CLASS Option to Deliver Orders on Physical Media

CLASS now has the capability to accept orders for data on media such as CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, and IBM LTO Tapes. The fee is $25.00 per unit for optical disks and $100 per unit for magnetic tapes, plus there is additional service and handling costs. Allow delivery of media to occur within 1 to 2 weeks, but longer for large orders. The option to order data for shipping will occur at the order checkout stage, from which you will then proceed to another NOAA site to provide shipping and billing addresses and credit card information. If you wish to pay by another means, please contact the CLASS Help Desk for instructions.

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(05-05-06) CLASS Release 4.0 Notes March 7, 2006

1. CLASS can now ingest GOES historical data mode AA and mode A. This completes the CLASS enhancements for ingesting GOES historical data as a previous CLASS release incorporated the capability of ingesting GOES mode AAA data.
2. Enhanced subscription services to allow users request digital signatures along with their data.
3. Enabled search and distribution of CoastWatch Swath data. This data that have been ingested by CLASS for the last two years was recently approved by the data provider for distribution. Data available includes all CLASS holdings.
4. Completed automation of the CLASS-NMMR interface.

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(05-05-06) 2nd CLASS Users Conference 2006

The 2nd CLASS Users Conference will be held in Boulder, Colorado - August 7-8, 2006. For more information: 2nd CLASS Users Conference.

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(8-05-02) CoastWatch Subscription Service

The Comprehensive Large Array-data Stewardship System now offers subscription services to users who want CoastWatch data on a daily basis. In order to get a subscription account with us, please send an email to info@class.noaa.gov with the desired subregions and datatypes (listed below), and the satellite (NOAA-15, NOAA-16 or both).

Regions
Hawaii:	HH - Main Island Mesoscale HY - Synoptic	Great Lakes:	GE - Erie and Ontario GL - Synoptic GM - Michigan and Huron GR - Full Regional Panel GS - Superior and Northern Michigan
Gulf of Mexico:	MC - Central Gulf Coast ML - Louisiana and Mississippi MP - Yucatan Peninsula MR - Full Regional Panel MT - Texas MW - West Florida MX - Extended Gulf of Mexico MY - Synoptic	North East:	EC - Chesapeake Bay ED - Dump Site 106 EE - Extended Northeast Region EG - Georges Bank EM - Gulf of Maine EN - Synoptic ER - Full Regional Panel ES - Southern New England
Alaska:	AA - Aleutian Islands Synoptic AB - Beaufort AC - Chukchi AG - Gulf of Alaska AH - Anchorage AJ - Juneau AL - Aleutian Islands AN - Northern Alaska Synoptic AS - Southern Alaska Synoptic AT - Bering Straight AU - Unalaska AV - Vancouver AW - Western Alaska Synoptic AX - Southern Alaska AY - Western Alaska AZ - Northern Alaska	West Coast:	WB - British Columbia Synoptic WC - Central California WE - Northern Baja Mexico WF - CalCOFI Synoptic WJ - Baja Mexico Synoptic WL - Southern California WM - Southern Baja Mexico WN - Northwest WO - Oregon WP - Central Baja Mexico WR - Full Regional Panel WS - Southwest WU - Northern California WV - Vancouver Island WW - Washington WX - Fill Regional Panel (2.5 km) WY - Synoptic (LAC) WZ - Synoptic (GAC)
South East:	SE - East Florida SG - South Carolina and Georgia SN - North Carolina SR - Full Regional Panel SS - South Florida SW - West Florida SX - Extended Southeast Region SY - Synoptic	Caribbean:	CBH - Bahamas CBZ - Belize CCJ - Cuba / Jamaica Synoptic CDH - Dominican Rep / Haiti Synoptic CEC - East Caribbean Synoptic CEG - East Gulf of Mexico Synoptic CFB - Flower Garden Banks CFK - Florida Keys CGP - Gulf of Papayayo Synoptic CGR - Grays Reef CGT - Gulf of Tehuantepec Synoptic CJ - Jamaica CJM - Jamaica CLA - Lesser Antilles Synoptic CMM - Mazatlan / Mexico Synoptic CNF - Northern Florida CP - Puerto Rico CPC - Panama / W. Columbia Synoptic CPR - Puerto Rico CSA - San Andreas Bight Synoptic CVC - Venezuala / Columbia Synoptic CWC - West Caribbean Synoptic CWG - West Gulf of Mexico Synoptic CXS - Full Regional Panel (2.5 km) CXX - Full Regional panel (10 km) CYC - Yucatan Channel CYP - Yucatan Peninsula Synoptic
Datatypes	B7-NLSST daytime/nighttime split-window BM-Multiple SST algorithm daytime and nighttime C1-Channel 1 Albedo C2-Channel 2 Albedo C3-Channel 3 Brightness temperatures C4-Channel 4 Brightness temperatures C5-Channel 5 Brightness temperatures CM-Cloud Mask D1-MCSST daytime split-window D7-NLSST daytime split-window S3-MCSST nighttime triple-window S7-NLSST nighttime split-window S9-NLSST nighttime triple-window SM-Multiple SST algorithm nightti SZ-Satellite zenith angle ZA-Solar zenith angle ZR-Relative azimuth angle

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(1-24-02) Stabilization of NOAA-14 GAC

After months of problems caused by high scan motor currents, NOAA-14 AVHRR GAC data stabilized beginning the morning of January 18, 2002. The GAC data continues to look fine as of this writing (January 24, 2002). However, the HRPT data demonstrates a slight problem which causes earth locations to look off by about a half a pixel. This problem is not uniform throughout the data. Additionally, a number of pixel dropouts and bad data points have been observed throughout the HRPT data. We will continue to monitor these issues.

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