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Christman Field Latest Observations
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Date Time
MST
Temp
°F
RH
%
DewPt
°F
Wind
mph
Dir
°
Gust
mph
Dir
°
Press
in Hg
Solar
W/m^2
Prec
in
2023-03-25 16:20 33.1 25.0 1.1 17.3 313 24.1 303 24.671 120.8 0.00
2023-03-25 16:15 33.3 25.9 2.0 22.0 306 30.9 307 24.667 134.6 0.00
2023-03-25 16:10 33.6 22.7 -0.6 19.2 300 23.8 283 24.666 169.5 0.00
2023-03-25 16:05 33.8 23.1 -0.1 23.7 286 29.5 299 24.664 214.2 0.00
2023-03-25 16:00 34.0 24.5 1.4 22.8 290 33.3 275 24.663 252.5 0.00
2023-03-25 15:55 34.1 23.9 0.9 21.1 293 27.3 287 24.662 233.4 0.00
2023-03-25 15:50 34.1 24.3 1.3 22.2 288 34.8 290 24.659 242.0 0.00
2023-03-25 15:45 34.0 25.1 1.9 20.0 282 29.4 295 24.657 232.6 0.00
2023-03-25 15:40 33.9 26.4 2.9 20.4 300 25.7 290 24.655 177.1 0.00
2023-03-25 15:35 34.0 25.7 2.4 18.6 286 23.7 287 24.654 174.3 0.00
2023-03-25 15:30 34.1 24.5 1.5 21.7 292 30.1 300 24.651 183.4 0.00
2023-03-25 15:25 34.5 24.9 2.2 20.9 290 27.2 278 24.648 217.6 0.00
2023-03-25 15:20 35.1 25.1 2.8 19.2 298 27.0 284 24.647 295.5 0.00
2023-03-25 15:15 35.0 27.1 4.5 16.6 285 22.7 271 24.645 364.3 0.00
2023-03-25 15:10 34.7 23.5 1.1 20.1 291 24.6 269 24.644 346.9 0.00
2023-03-25 15:05 34.5 25.8 2.9 22.8 279 31.2 285 24.642 210.2 0.00
2023-03-25 15:00 34.9 23.2 0.9 22.7 295 29.1 286 24.640 217.2 0.00
2023-03-25 14:55 35.7 25.8 3.9 23.0 288 29.9 286 24.639 308.7 0.00
2023-03-25 14:50 36.2 24.3 3.1 20.2 287 29.1 280 24.637 484.9 0.00
2023-03-25 14:45 36.7 21.5 0.9 16.1 295 23.0 295 24.638 604.4 0.00
2023-03-25 14:40 36.2 23.9 2.7 19.5 264 24.7 271 24.637 607.5 0.00
2023-03-25 14:35 35.9 21.6 0.3 21.5 270 26.9 273 24.638 600.5 0.00
2023-03-25 14:30 35.8 23.8 2.3 23.2 273 30.2 268 24.636 608.1 0.00
2023-03-25 14:25 35.9 22.5 1.2 16.3 275 24.4 278 24.635 489.1 0.00
2023-03-25 14:20 35.4 22.5 0.8 19.1 286 28.3 280 24.634 423.8 0.00
2023-03-25 14:15 35.6 23.4 1.8 19.2 296 24.8 280 24.633 387.3 0.00
2023-03-25 14:10 35.5 27.0 4.8 16.0 253 24.7 272 24.633 464.3 0.00
2023-03-25 14:05 35.7 23.8 2.2 21.0 286 30.4 273 24.631 484.5 0.00
2023-03-25 14:00 35.6 22.1 0.6 20.2 279 26.7 279 24.631 541.0 0.00
2023-03-25 13:55 36.1 25.5 4.1 20.9 275 28.1 268 24.631 519.7 0.00
Date Time
MST
Temp
°C
RH
%
DewPt
°C
Wind
m/s
Dir
°
Gust
m/s
Dir
°
Press
hPa
Solar
W/m^2
Prec
mm
2023-03-25 16:20 0.6 25.0 -17.2 7.8 313 10.8 303 835.44 120.8 0.00
2023-03-25 16:15 0.7 25.9 -16.7 9.8 306 13.8 307 835.33 134.6 0.00
2023-03-25 16:10 0.9 22.7 -18.1 8.6 300 10.6 283 835.28 169.5 0.00
2023-03-25 16:05 1.0 23.1 -17.8 10.6 286 13.2 299 835.21 214.2 0.00
2023-03-25 16:00 1.1 24.5 -17.0 10.2 290 14.9 275 835.19 252.5 0.00
2023-03-25 15:55 1.1 23.9 -17.3 9.4 293 12.2 287 835.14 233.4 0.00
2023-03-25 15:50 1.2 24.3 -17.0 9.9 288 15.6 290 835.05 242.0 0.00
2023-03-25 15:45 1.1 25.1 -16.7 8.9 282 13.1 295 834.98 232.6 0.00
2023-03-25 15:40 1.1 26.4 -16.1 9.1 300 11.5 290 834.93 177.1 0.00
2023-03-25 15:35 1.1 25.7 -16.4 8.3 286 10.6 287 834.87 174.3 0.00
2023-03-25 15:30 1.2 24.5 -17.0 9.7 292 13.4 300 834.76 183.4 0.00
2023-03-25 15:25 1.4 24.9 -16.5 9.3 290 12.2 278 834.68 217.6 0.00
2023-03-25 15:20 1.7 25.1 -16.2 8.6 298 12.1 284 834.63 295.5 0.00
2023-03-25 15:15 1.7 27.1 -15.3 7.4 285 10.1 271 834.58 364.3 0.00
2023-03-25 15:10 1.5 23.5 -17.2 9.0 291 11.0 269 834.53 346.9 0.00
2023-03-25 15:05 1.4 25.8 -16.1 10.2 279 14.0 285 834.46 210.2 0.00
2023-03-25 15:00 1.6 23.2 -17.3 10.2 295 13.0 286 834.41 217.2 0.00
2023-03-25 14:55 2.0 25.8 -15.6 10.3 288 13.3 286 834.37 308.7 0.00
2023-03-25 14:50 2.3 24.3 -16.0 9.0 287 13.0 280 834.32 484.9 0.00
2023-03-25 14:45 2.6 21.5 -17.3 7.2 295 10.3 295 834.33 604.4 0.00
2023-03-25 14:40 2.3 23.9 -16.3 8.7 264 11.1 271 834.31 607.5 0.00
2023-03-25 14:35 2.1 21.6 -17.6 9.6 270 12.0 273 834.33 600.5 0.00
2023-03-25 14:30 2.1 23.8 -16.5 10.4 273 13.5 268 834.28 608.1 0.00
2023-03-25 14:25 2.2 22.5 -17.1 7.3 275 10.9 278 834.24 489.1 0.00
2023-03-25 14:20 1.9 22.5 -17.3 8.5 286 12.7 280 834.20 423.8 0.00
2023-03-25 14:15 2.0 23.4 -16.8 8.6 296 11.1 280 834.16 387.3 0.00
2023-03-25 14:10 1.9 27.0 -15.1 7.2 253 11.1 272 834.15 464.3 0.00
2023-03-25 14:05 2.1 23.8 -16.5 9.4 286 13.6 273 834.09 484.5 0.00
2023-03-25 14:00 2.0 22.1 -17.5 9.0 279 11.9 279 834.09 541.0 0.00
2023-03-25 13:55 2.3 25.5 -15.5 9.4 275 12.6 268 834.09 519.7 0.00
CIRA

Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere

ML4DNB

Machine Learning for the VIIRS Day-Night Band


Detecting Gravity Waves


One of our goals is to develop machine learning algorithms that can identify gravity waves from the Day-Night band, e.g., from images like the one below.

Gravity waves (concentric circles) visible in Day-Night Band imagery

A key challenge for the task of detecting gravity waves is the presence of many other signals in the background of typical day-night imagery, such as city lights, ship lights, lightning, clouds, coastlines, etc.  We are currently exploring several different techniques for the automatic detection of gravity waves.

Observations and Detection of Milky Seas


VIIRS DNB observations of milky seas published in Scientific Reports:
The paper titled, “Honing in on bioluminescent milky seas from space” was published in Scientific Reports on 29 July 2021. This paper discusses VIIRS Day/Night Band observations of 12 milky sea events. Milky seas are a rare phenomenon where the surface of the ocean appears to glow at night with the water taking on a milky appearance. Recorded observations of milky seas from mariners, dating back as early as 1864, often claim this glowing, milky water stretches from horizon to horizon around the ship. Milky seas are a form of bioluminescence believed to be caused by the saprophytic relationship between a luminous bacteria and microalgae that occurs on a large scale. However, given the rare nature of these events, little in situ research has been performed. Previously, the only satellite-based observations of a milky sea event came from the Operational Linescan System (OLS) onboard the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). Now, for the first time, researchers led by Steve Miller (CIRA) have searched exhaustively through the VIIRS Day/Night Band (DNB) record, dating back to 2012, and identified 12 milky sea events. It is hoped that, moving forward, routine inspection of DNB imagery in the regions where milky seas are most common can be coordinated with research vessels to directly observe a milky sea event as it occurs, thus answering many of the remaining scientific questions surrounding this mysterious phenomenon.

One natural extension of this work is to develop machine learning algorithms that detect this phenomenon automatically, and alert researchers.  A first step though is to identify enough imagery with this phenomenon that makes training of machine learning techniques feasible.

Full reference:

Miller, S.D., Haddock, S.H.D., Straka, W.C., Seaman, C.J., Combs, C.L., Wang, M., Shi, W. and Nam, S.-H. Honing in on bioluminescent milky seas from space. Sci Rep 11, 15443 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-94823-z

Interested readers are encouraged to check out the supplemental materials provided at the bottom of the above article (below the references) for a list of mariner reports of milky sea sightings and the full list of DNB-detected milky sea events – so far.

 

Comparison between Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS) and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band (DNB) imagery for a bioluminescent milky sea south of Java.  The glowing ocean surface, seen only on moonless nights and whose area exceeds the size of Iceland (> 100,000 square km) persisted offshore of Java for several weeks, drifting slowly westward between two ocean eddies.  The new DNB capability affords the first practical detection of milky seas via high-quality, calibrated low-light imagery–paving the way for future research expeditions.

 

Publications


  • Miller, S. D., W. C. Straka III, J. Yue, S. M. Smith, M. J. Alexander, L. Hoffmann, M. Setvák, and P. T. Partain, 2015: Upper atmospheric gravity wave details revealed in night glow satellite imagery. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 112(49), 6728-6735, doi:10.1073/pnas.1508084112. LINK

  • Miller, S. D., W. C. Straka III, J. Yue, C. J. Seaman, S. Xu, C. D. Elvidge, L. Hoffman, and S. I. Azeem, 2018: The Dark Side of Hurricane Matthew—Unique Perspectives from the Day/Night Band. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 99(12), 2561-2574, doi: 10.1175/BAMS-D-17-0097.1  LINK

Primary contact


Steve Miller (CIRA director, Professor – Atmospheric Science)