Topic: NESDIS JPSS-2 Product Operations Plans

Date/Time Issued: September 27, 2022 1758 UTC

Product(s) or Data Impacted: All JPSS-2 Products

Date/Time of Initial Impact: November 1, 2022 TBD UTC

Date/Time of Expected End: N/A

Length of Outage: N/A

Details/Specifics of Change:

This message provides important information about NESDIS’s plans for JPSS-2, which is scheduled to launch on November 1, 2022, and JPSS-2 product operations. Any changes to the launch date will be posted at: https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/next-generation/jpss-2-launch

The JPSS-2/NOAA-21 Product Operations Plan (POP) is available at: https://noaasis.noaa.gov/POLAR/JPSS/jpss.html

The JPSS series of satellites consists of Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP), NOAA-20, JPSS-2, JPSS-3, and JPSS-4. The JPSS satellites provide critical environmental data collection required by the nation to monitor real-time weather events, improve accuracy and reduce uncertainty in medium range weather forecasts, and support essential operational mission areas.

JPSS-2 will be placed a quarter orbit ahead of S-NPP and a quarter orbit behind NOAA-20. JPSS-2 will be renamed NOAA-21 after the satellite reaches orbit. The three satellites will stay in this configuration with NOAA-20 leading, until NOAA-21 is declared primary for the 1330 Local Time of Ascending Node (LTAN). After NOAA-21 is designated primary, the mission operations team will move NOAA-20 forward to give NOAA-21 and NOAA-20 the required half-orbit separation.

NOAA’s JPSS Program will verify that the spacecraft and instruments meet the JPSS requirements during the Launch, Early Orbit, and Activation (LEO&A) period through a series of Post-Launch Tests (PLT). LEO&A is typically completed within about 90 days after launch. During the LEO&A period the emphasis will be on getting the NOAA-21 Key Performance Parameters (KPP) products to the Provisional maturity level. After data starts flowing from a NOAA-21 instrument, then Interface Data Processing Segment (IDPS) Ops will generate Raw Data Records (RDR), Sensor Data Records (SDR), Temperature Data Records (TDR), and VIIRS Imagery EDRs, and distribute the products to the Environmental Satellite Processing Center (ESPC) Integration and Test (I&T) environment, Government Resource for Algorithm Verification, Independent Test, and Evaluation (GRAVITE), and Comprehensive Large Array-data Stewardship System (CLASS) as restricted data.

There are two categories of “early access” users who typically need JPSS data products prior to Provisional maturity. Authorized early access users can access data through PDA I&T and CLASS.

● JPSS Cal/Val Consumers who are participating in the Cal/Val activities, and

● JPSS Beta Consumers who require products at the Beta maturity level so that they can prepare their systems for the products when it reaches Provisional.

After a successful Post-Launch Assessment Review (PLAR) OSPO will assume responsibility for NOAA-21 mission operations. At that point, the JPSS satellite assignments will be:

● Primary: NOAA-20

● Secondary: S-NPP

● Tertiary: NOAA-21

When NOAA’s NWS confirms that it is ready to assimilate the NOAA-21 sounder data in its modeling system and the performance of the VIIRS Imagery product is acceptable, then NOAA-21 will be declared operational and the JPSS satellites assignments will be:

● Primary: NOAA-20

● Secondary: NOAA-21

● Tertiary: S-NPP

All KPPs will be at the Provisional maturity level prior to the operational declaration. The JPSS KPPs are:

● Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) Temperature Data Records (TDRs)

● Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) SDRs

● For latitudes greater than 60ºN in the NWS Alaska Region, Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Imagery Environmental Data Record (EDR) at 0.64μm (I1), 1.61μm (I3), 3.74μm (I4), 11.45μm (I5), 8.55 μm (M14), 10.763 μm (M15), 12.03 μm (M16), and 0.7 μm Near Constant Contrast (NCC) EDR

● 87-minute data latency for the ATMS TDRs, CrIS SDRs and the VIIRS Imagery EDR channels specified above

When the criteria are met to designate NOAA-21 the primary satellite then the JPSS satellite assignments will be:

● Primary: NOAA-21

● Secondary: NOAA-20

● Tertiary: S-NPP

The JPSS data latency requirements apply only to the primary satellite in the JPSS constellation. Data Latency is defined as the period from the time of the observation until the data product is available to the user at the distribution system.

The ESPC is NOAA's primary data-processing system for the Nation's environmental satellite data and it is located at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility (NSOF) in Suitland, MD. ESPC’s Product Generation (PG) Segment is the NOAA Data Exploitation (NDE) system and the Product Distribution (PD) Segment is the Product Distribution and Access (PDA) system. The PDA distributes products to authorized, operational real-time users through terrestrial networks and point-to-point connections. NDE and PDA inherited the two-JPSS satellite requirement from the JPSS Program and their capacity is sized for two JPSS satellites. CLASS was also designed and built for two JPSS satellites.

The NOAA-21 Beta-level products will be generated on NDE I&T and available to users who are authorized early access on PDA I&T. NOAA-21 Provisional-level products will be generated on NESDIS Common Cloud Framework (NCCF) and available through PDA OPS.

JPSS users requested OSPO continue to generate and distribute selected S-NPP products for a period of time after the NOAA-21 commissioning. Based on a data loading analysis conducted in the ESPC Integration and Test (I&T) environment, OSPO determined that NDE, PDA, and CLASS should be able to handle the load during the transition of NOAA-21 products through full validation. However, OSPO will reassess the data loading on ESPC OPS after the JPSS-2 launch with NOAA-21 products flowing. No commitment will be made until after the JPSS-2 launch and after the data loading and staffing levels are reassessed. If OSPO determines that the safety margin is exceeded or that staff are not available to support this configuration, then OSPO will incrementally withdraw back to the two JPSS satellite processing/distribution requirements.

If categories of S-NPP products remain on NDE/PDA OPS until the equivalent category of NOAA-21 products reach Provisional, an ESPC Notification will be issued up to 30 days prior to the suspension of the S-NPP product to alert users. However, OSPO has full authority to remove products without prior notice if required in order to deal with either system over-loading conditions, and/or other significant system-related issues.

Only products that have reached Provisional and been approved through the Satellite Products and Services Board (SPSRB) process should be used for operations.

The expected Provisional and SPSRB dates for the NOAA-21 products are listed in the JPSS-2/NOAA-21 POP. NESDIS is transitioning OSPO’s JPSS product generation capabilities to the NCCF at the same time that the NOAA-21 products are transitioning to operations. The NOAA-21 Provisional products will be generated on the NCCF and distributed to users through the ESPC’s PDA.

The NOAA-21 High Rate Data (HRD) downlink will start a few days after launch and instrument data will flow once each instrument is turned-on. Direct Broadcast (DB) users who plan to receive the NOAA-21 HRD are advised not to use the NOAA-21 science data for operations until OSPO sends the ESPC Notification stating that the data product has been approved for operational use. At that point DB users can use the equivalent Community Satellite Processing Package (CSPP) LEO product for operations.

Starting with S-NPP, all JPSS Missions are required to comply with the U.S. Orbital Debris Risk Mitigation Policy. Controlled re-entry requires that a minimum number of key spacecraft bus subsystems are healthy and available. S-NPP is the first opportunity for NOAA to perform controlled re-entry and baseline the approach for all LEO missions (JPSS-1/2/3/4 and future follow-ons). OSPO will keep users informed as decisions are made regarding S-NPP.

The contents of this release are subject to change based on user readiness, customer feedback, and management approval. Additional ESPC notifications may provide further details and updates concerning this release.

Any user feedback and questions should be sent to Shuang Qiu at shuang.qiu@noaa.gov

Contact Information for Further Information: ESPC Operations at ESPCOperations@noaa.gov and 301-817-3880, and User Services at SPSD.Userservices@noaa.gov

Web Site(s) for applicable information: N/A

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