Kerry Grant JPSS CGS Chief Scientist Craig Bergeron

Kerry Grant, JPSS CGS Chief Scientist Craig Bergeron, CGS System Performance Manager Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems, Aurora CO With the successful launch of JPSS’s first satellite, the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) spacecraft, on Oct. 28, 2011, the Raytheon developed Common Ground System (CGS) moved into full operational tempo. Responsible for satellite command control, global data communications, data processing and delivery, as well as initial operations, the CGS was developed to meet a rigorous set of requirements in support of multi-mission operational environmental satellite missions, including JPSS, the next-generation Do. D polar-orbiting weather satellites, the Global Change Observation Mission – Water (GCOM-W), and similar missions. As the first of these missions to fly, S-NPP provides a key test of the CGS’s ability to meet the demands of a 24 x 7 operational ground command, control, communications, and data processing system. Figure 1 illustrates the S-NPP configuration of CGS. A key measure of the CGS’s performance is its ability to provide virtually all of the data from the downlink site to end users (this is a measure of data availability) within the user’s required timeline (data latency). The CGS monitors data flow at major nodes in this communications link, verifying it meets its requirements. Figure - 1 JPSS CGS Deployment for S-NPP Requirement Delivered Above Requirement Undelivered Did not meet latency 99. 59% Chart 1 – CGS EDR Availability to Archive, 11/5/12 – 12/19/13 Environmental Data Records (EDRs) are the end product of the CGS communications and data processing chain. It is required to deliver 95% of theoretical maximum number of EDRs. Over a 45 day period, an intensive measurement program found the CGS delivered 99. 59% of the 1, 964, 168 possible products to the archive facility. Chart 2 – CGS EDR Latency to AFWA, 11/5/12 – 11/23/12 Weather data must be turned into information quickly to have value. The CGS is required to deliver 95% of its products within 180 minutes of observation to be of value to the consumer. This chart shows that over the 45 day test period, 99. 84% of 2, 265, 484 possible EDRs were delivered to the Air Force Weather Agency within the required time, helping them provide timely forecast information to users.