Eyes Over Alaska: How JPSS Satellites See the 49th State

Join us for our Talk Tuesday on February 18, 2025 at 4p (est)

Dr. Jennifer (Jen) Delamere, Director of Geographic Information Network of Alaska (GINA) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Associate Research Professor (Snow, Ice, and Permafrost Group at the Geophysical Institute)

Suomi-NPP, NOAA-20, and NOAA-21, and the innovative instruments they carry, are the most versatile observational assets we have for weather forecasting and hazard detection in the state of Alaska and its adjacent oceans. These satellites, part of the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), are equipped with direct-broadcast technology, allowing continuous downlink of mission data to small antennas worldwide. Three direct-broadcast antennas, owned and operated by the Geographic Information Network of Alaska (GINA), are currently deployed in interior Alaska. This presentation will highlight how JPSS products are used today in Alaska to monitor wildland fires by the Alaska Fire Service, river flooding by the Alaska-Pacific River Forecast Center, precipitation by the National Weather Service offices, and sea ice movement by the Alaska Sea Ice Program. As important as the mission are the people that make them happen. GINA continually strives to develop, improve, and assess satellite products through partnerships with NOAA, NOAA Cooperative Institutes, government agencies, and universities. Examples of these partnerships will be presented.

Dr. Delamere has studied Alaska and the Arctic from the ground and from space for nearly 30 years. As the Director of the Geographic Information Network of Alaska (GINA) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, she ensures rapid product delivery from polar-orbiting satellites to forecasting partners and communities across Alaska. Not wanting to leave her true passion, fieldwork, Dr. Delamere keeps a foot on the ground in northern Alaska, where she engages in research studies that include the springtime melt season and precipitation measurement techniques.