IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - June 2014 - 89

collection systems to produce hourly, 16th mesh (12.5 nautical mile resolution), worldwide merged cloud analysis
and forecast products. The cloud analysis software is able
to exploit data from both polar-orbiting and geostationary satellites, i.e., data from the Defense Meteorological
Satellite Program (DMSP), the Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) program, and the complete international constellation of geostationary environmental
satellites. To date, CDFS-II is the only operational cloud
forecast system in the world.
CDFS-II receives multi-channel visible and infrared satellite data, meteorological station data, and atmospheric
forecast model data for its analysis. It also processes data
from surface and space-based collection sources for its
surface temperature and snow depth models. The CDFS
II cloud analysis and forecast model algorithms use all
ingested data in the production of a World Wide Merged
Cloud Analysis (WWMCA), an Advect Cloud (ADVCLD)
short-range cloud forecast model, and a longer-range Diagnostic Cloud Forecast (DCF) model. The WWMCA and
cloud forecasts are used to support both unclassified and
classified strategic mission partners.
Development of cloud analysis and forecast algorithms
continues at AER and the newest version is known as Unified Cloud Detection (UCD). Now in transition to operations at AFWA, UCD provides an enhanced cloud detection capability including relevant cloud optical properties
such as phase and particle size.
EnvironmEntal Data CubE
Support SyStEm (EDCSS)
Over the last decade the Department of Defense (DoD)
Air and Space Natural Environment (ASNE) Modeling and Simulation Executive Agent (MSEA) has sponsored AER to develop technologies that focus on creating consistent environment representations for use in
DoD Modeling and Simulation (M&S) activities [16].
The Environmental Data Cube Support System (EDCSS)
is the capstone of this investment and was initiated to

(a)

focus on two identified critical needs: the provision of a
consistent set of environmental support products for the
training audience, exercise controllers, and simulation
operators; and a full suite of service-oriented architecture capabilities for the production, distribution, and
integration of those products. In just four years of development, the EDCSS program has delivered scalable,
working technology components that, as an integrated
system, are now identified as the official environmental
provider to Air Force, Navy, and Army M&S programs.
This technology has been utilized in dozens of M&S
training events involving thousands of active duty and
Government civilian participants. Fig. 2 illustrates some
of the weather and weather effect products supported by
EDCSS, to include simulated remote sensing products
and correlated system impact products.
In the past year, two branches of the U.S. military have
initiated efforts to transition the EDCSS from a research
and development capability hosted at AER to an operationally deployed system at military commands. The Air Force
has begun activities to host EDCSS at the Air Force Weather
Agency, where it will serve as the central system for provision of environmental products for Air Force and Army
M&S activities. The Navy has taken delivery of EDCSS and
is in the process of its deployment within the Navy Continuous Training Environment (NCTE) at the Naval Warfare
Development Command.
GoES-r GrounD SyStEm DEvElopmEnt
AER's most significant deployment of our research-tooperations transition process and tools has been the
development of the production GOES-R L1b calibration
and L2+ product software. AER followed the full implementation of the process described below in Section 7
to fulfill our responsibility for developing the GOES-R
ground processing algorithm software. This process was
also an integral part of the development of the GOESR data model interface/algorithm framework designed
to efficiently transition AER-developed software into an

(b)

(c)

Figure 2. Three EDCSS products from an integrated natural environment representation over Central Asia. Simulated remote sensing

products (satellite (a) and radar in (b)) are derived from the same atmosphere and terrain datasets used to create military system impact
products (c).
june 2014

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - June 2014