- Success Stories
- Satellite Science & Environmental Intelligence
Supporting the Development and Refinement of Advanced Atmospheric Sounding Products
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Unique Combined Atmospheric Processing System (NUCAPS) provides critical information on temperature, moisture, ozone, and other variables that help forecasters and climate experts understand conditions throughout the atmosphere. CSS Employee Owners are key contributors to the team, supporting the development and refinement of advanced atmospheric sounding products.
The work of CSS centers on improving the algorithm behind Outgoing Longwave Radiation, the key indicator of Earth’s energy balance and climate system. CSS supports NOAA’s Amazon Web Service cloud‑based mission‑long reprocessing efforts, ensuring continuous, accurate data records using up‑to‑date algorithms. These long‑term datasets are essential for monitoring Earth’s changing climate and supporting sustainability planning.
In addition, CSS contributes to Aerosols and Ocean Science Expedition campaigns, which include dedicated radiosonde launches over tropical oceans to validate NUCAPS temperature and humidity profiles. These observations strengthen NOAA’s ability to produce more reliable weather and climate insights.
Through this work, CSS contributions support NOAA’s mission to maintain healthy ecosystems, communities, and economies that are resilient to change, which is critical as natural disaster costs continue to climb into the tens and hundreds of billions of dollars each year. The expertise of CSS Employee Owners helps provide the foundational science behind forecasts, warnings, and climate assessments used by scientists, policymakers, and emergency managers.
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Developing a Database for Ecosystem Service Models
CSS scientists have been major developers and contributors to the online U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s EcoService Models Library (ESML) database since its inception in 2012. The ESML database contains detailed but concise descriptions of ecosystem service models to facilitate the selection of models by ecosystem scientists for a variety of management and research applications. The…
Examining Cetaceans for Contamination and Pathogens
CSS has employee owners who are experts in monitoring cetacean health. Several CSS scientists supporting NOAA’s Centers for Coastal Ocean Science have recently conducted research and tests on marine mammals to explore uncommon behaviors and causes for strandings. View some examples of this research below. Microplastics are becoming increasingly abundant in coastal and marine environments.…
New Heavily Desired High Resolution Land Cover Data for the U.S.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently announced the launch of the long desired high-resolution coastal land cover data. This highly anticipated data are available for most coastal areas of the U.S., including Alaska and the U.S. territories. CSS employee owners contributed to the release of this data set by participating in production activities and…