Uploaded October 2024 | Updated September 2026, 14 hours ago
NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) Office of Systems Architecture and Engineering (SAE) will host an online Commercial Data Program (CDP) Community Day. The focus of this community day is to provide a NESDIS CDP status and describe how NESDIS is using the results from the General Request for Information (G-RFI) released by the NESIDS CDP in December 2023. Presenters will offer an update on the G-RFI process, outcome, methodology, technology types considered, and considerations of NOAA mission needs. Other topics will include the objectives and future plans of the NESDIS CDP, including operational data purchases and data pilot projects to support NOAA’s observational requirements.
NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) Office of Systems Architecture and Engineering (SAE) will host an online Commercial Data Program (CDP) Community Day. The focus of this community day is to provide a NESDIS CDP status and describe how NESDIS is using the results from the General Request for Information (G-RFI) released by the NESIDS CDP in December 2023. Presenters will offer an update on the G-RFI process, outcome, methodology, technology types considered, and considerations of NOAA mission needs. Other topics will include the objectives and future plans of the NESDIS CDP, including operational data purchases and data pilot projects to support NOAA’s observational requirements.
![Earth from Orbit: NOAA Debuts First Imagery from GOES-18
On May 11, 2022, NOAA shared the first images of the Western Hemisphere from its GOES-18 satellite. The satellite’s Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument captured these images on May 5.
GOES-18, NOAA’s newest geostationary satellite, launched on March 1. The ABI views Earth with sixteen different channels, each measuring energy at different wavelengths along the electromagnetic spectrum to obtain information about Earth’s atmosphere, land, and ocean.
Learn more:
https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/earth-orbit-noaa-debuts-first-imagery-goes-18
*GOES-18 preliminary, non-operational data.*
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Video Credits:
NOAA
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
CIRA
CIMSS
Music:
“Soaring High,” by Andrew Hamilton [PRS] & Matthew Winch [PRS]; Atmosphere Music Ltd.; Universal Production Music Earth from Orbit: NOAA Debuts First Imagery from GOES-18](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ECjEHbcydDA/mqdefault.jpg)

![Wildfires Rage in Western Canada
Although wildfire season in Canada usually begins in early May, when the snow begins to melt and uncover dead vegetation that can become fuel for fires, more than 100 wildland fires have already begun raging across western Canada this month. Roughly a million acres have burned, and more than 29,000 people in Alberta and British Columbia were forced to evacuate their homes.
According to local experts, this type of “ferocious” wildfire activity isn’t typical this early in the year, and firefighters don’t normally see such a large area burned at once. Additionally, a news release issued by the government of Alberta stated the region is experiencing unusually hot, dry conditions this spring, which makes it an ideal environment for fires to spread. A provincial state of emergency in Alberta was declared on May 6, 2023.
Credits:
NOAA
NASA
CIRA
Additional imagery courtesy of CIMSS
Music: “Desert Burial” by Cesar Gimeno Lavin [PRS] & Giles Palmer [PRS]; Pedigree Cuts; Universal Production Music Wildfires Rage in Western Canada](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/El0fYx-GqGA/mqdefault.jpg)
![Kona Low Slams Hawaii
This week, NOAA satellites monitored a large “kona low” storm system that on Saturday began drenching Hawaii with heavy rains, leading to significant flooding and property damage. The system moved directly over the islands on Monday, prompting the state’s governor, David Ige (D), to declare a state of emergency that is set to remain in effect through Friday, Dec. 10.
A kona low, or kona storm, tends to form in the winter months and is a type of seasonal subtropical cyclone. The word “kona” means “leeward” in Hawaiian, which refers to the side of an island that is usually sheltered from prevailing trade winds and associated rainfall. In Hawaii’s case, these usually come from the east-northeastern direction. Instead, a kona low brings cooler, moisture-rich winds to the islands from the south to southwest, which can lead to torrential rainfall and even heavy snow accumulation across the highest volcanic peaks of the Big Island (Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa). In fact, blizzard conditions were reported on these two mountain summits, and a blizzard warning ran through Monday morning.
Learn more:
https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/earth-orbit-kona-low-slams-hawaii
Credits:
NOAA
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
CIRA
Additional imagery provided by CIMSS
Music:
“Mist and Haze,” by George King [PRS]; Atmosphere Music Ltd; Universal Production Music Kona Low Slams Hawaii](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Et28-FuYq9E/mqdefault.jpg)

![NOAA Satellites Track Large New Jersey Wildfire
NOAA satellites have been closely monitoring the Jones Road Fire, which erupted on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in a region of eastern New Jersey known as the Pine Barrens. Fueled by strong, gusty winds, low humidity, and dry undergrowth, the blaze has since grown to become one of the worst fires in the state’s history.
Learn more about the fire and how NOAA satellites are helping the firefighting efforts:
https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/noaa-satellites-track-large-new-jersey-wildfire
Credits:
NOAA, NASA, and the Cooperative Institute of Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA)
Additional imagery courtesy of the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Jan Bodzak Treloar.
Music:
“Serious Matters” by Chris Doney [PRS] and Beth Perry [PRS]; Ninja Tune Production Music; Universal Production Music NOAA Satellites Track Large New Jersey Wildfire](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/I1pBihAoHLQ/mqdefault.jpg)

![Popocatépetl Volcano Erupts in Mexico
Mexico’s Popocatépetl Volcano, whose name is the Aztec word for smoking mountain, began belching out towering clouds of ash this week. Located about 45 miles southeast of Mexico City in central Mexico, the volcano is considered one of the most dangerous in the world, since roughly 25 million people live within 60 miles of it. Thus, it is also one of the world’s most closely-monitored volcanoes.
After lying dormant for more than 70 years, the roughly 17,800-foot volcano, known affectionately as “El Popo,” awoke in 1994, and has been spewing toxic fumes, ash, and lumps of incandescent rock persistently ever since.
Credits:
NOAA
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
CIRA
Additional imagery courtesy of CIMSS.
Footage of Popocatépetl from Pond5/BlackBoxGuild
Music: “Requiem for Earth” by Carolin Petit [SACEM]; Koka Media; Universal Production Music Popocatépetl Volcano Erupts in Mexico](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JkeCCNeu5ts/mqdefault.jpg)


