SSEC Biennial Report 2020-2021
Idea. Invest. Innovate.
Universities are incubators of new ideas. With the right investment, these ideas are realized as real-world innovations that improve, and save, people’s lives.
Credit: Bryce Richter / UW-Madison
From our earliest beginnings, SSEC and CIMSS have been testbeds for basic and applied science research in environmental remote sensing; testing and refining ideas until they mature.
Central to the success of that research has been federal government investment and partnership.
New instruments designed to gather atmospheric data – like the CubeSats for the PREFIRE and TROPICS experiments – have evolved over decades and are now ready to deliver crucial and timely information about Earth’s climate and weather. The investment in research for these two programs came largely from NASA, but similar support from our partner agencies like NOAA and NSF enables the research highlighted in this report.
Innovation builds on earlier research to push the field forward. Sustained investment in research at SSEC and CIMSS from our federal partners demonstrates our shared commitment to improving understanding of weather, climate and atmospheric processes for the benefit of all.
R. Bradley Pierce
Director, SSEC