Russell Schneider, the director of
NOAA’s Norman, OK-based Storm Prediction Center, says GOES-R, combined
with its new lightning measurements,
will give forecasters unprecedented observations of developing severe storms.
“This will increase the accuracy of our
warning messages for communities across
the United States,” he says.
Steve Goodman, the GOES-R program
scientist, says the satellite’s ability to closely
track lightning activity provides more information about the lethal potential of
all storms. “In-cloud lightning often increases as thunderstorms intensify,” he
explains. “When lightning rates increase
dramatically, that indicates the potential
for a severe or tornadic storm.”
According to Jim Estep, president and
CEO of the High Technology Foundation
in Fairmont, WV, GOES-R is one of the
most significant non-defense related satellite programs in history. “The GOES-R
satellites will provide so much more information about the climate and weather
patterns that it will literally redefine our
understanding of the Earth itself,” he says.
“Both the satellites and the corresponding ground stations are required to make
it all work. Therefore, it is of incredible
significance that West Virginia is home to
the ground station component because it
makes West Virginia an integral part of
this historic program.”
GOES-R will also monitor space
weather and aid in NOAA’s maritime forecasts, long-range seasonal predictions and
drought outlooks. GOES-R will improve
NOAA’s hurricane tracking and intensity forecasts, increase thunderstorm and
tornado warning lead times, better track
smoke and dust plumes, improve aviation
flight route planning and provide data
for long-term climate variability studies.
Fairmont’s CBU
In preparation for this new, complex
satellite series, NOAA established GOES-R
ground operations—which will capture
and distribute the satellite’s data, control
its maneuvers and monitor its health—at
two primary locations: Wallops, VA, and
the Washington, D.C. suburb of Suitland,
MD. However, there is always a chance
that a large-scale weather event like a
land-falling hurricane or major storm
could disrupt operations at these two sites
simultaneously because of their close proximity to each other, and there is a need
to have a ready backup facility located
remotely from the other two. Fairmont
was chosen as the site for this consolidated backup facility.
During the search for a site for GOES-R’s
CBU, NOAA sought a location geographically separate from the primary operations
sites in Maryland and Virginia. The organization also considered internet connectivity, minimal radio frequency interference
for the GOES-R antennas and the time it
would take employees to travel to the site
during a contingency, with travel by automobile preferable to travel by aircraft.
The CBU, which employs 40 West Virginians, is a consolidated facility that
duplicates the full functionality of the
primary ground stations and is capable
of simultaneously supporting the operations, health and safety of all GOES-R
satellites. Operation of the CBU is critical
to both GOES-R system availability and
continuity of the nation’s weather satellite
operations. If the primary ground stations
are disrupted or disabled, the CBU in
Fairmont will be activated and become
fully staffed for operations by personnel
deployed from the other two sites.
This was not the first facility NOAA
installed at the Fairmont location. Prior to
GOES-R, NOAA conducted an extensive
search for possible Continuity of Operations Plan, or COOP, sites. As a result,
Fairmont was selected as the backup site
for the next-generation Joint Polar Satellite System and the National Polar-orbiting Partnership Data Exploitation System,
creating a consolidated backup facility
for NOAA’s environmental satellite operations and services.
“The scientific value of the data coming
down to Earth to the ground station in
Fairmont is immeasurable,” says Estep.
“Because the data is originating to a large
extent at the ground station location and
will be expensive from a bandwidth standpoint to transfer around the world, it
positions North Central West Virginia
to significantly benefit from this financial opportunity. Because this activity is
located in Fairmont, the region is strategically located to benefit economically
from this potential.”
Congratulations,
Bob Welty,
West Virginia market president
of Fifth Third Bank,
for being named a
2016 Sharp Shooter.
Vice Chairman
Committee Member
www.wvexecutive.com
summer 2016
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