GOES-R DataJam Winners Announced

The winning projects from the GOES-R DataJam were announced in an awards ceremony on Nov. 8, 2023.

The GOES-R DataJam was a virtual competition for undergraduate and graduate students to showcase their best use of GOES-R Series data. Teams chose one of two proposed challenges and scoped out their projects in early October. Then, they had two weeks to come up with a solution. Each team presented their project to a panel of judges on Oct. 27 and winners were announced on Nov. 8.

The Challenges

Challenge #1: Visualize the View

Coding experience required: any skill level

Communicating science to a general audience imparts knowledge and inspires curiosity. Create a visualization or interactive experience that educates the public about GOES-R data and usage. Projects should be aesthetically compelling. Innovation and out of the box thinking encouraged.

Challenge #2: Clouds Computing Clouds

Coding experience required: proficient

With terabytes of GOES-R data being generated each day, efficient ways to access, process, and synthesize these data into easily accessible end-user products requires significant computer processing. In this challenge, fuse GOES-R data with another type of data set, utilizing cloud computing resources, to create a novel end-user product or methodology. Groups performing this challenge must also deliver well-commented code.

The Winners

The judges chose one winning project from each challenge.

Winner Challenge #1: Visualize the View

The winning team for “Visualize the View” was led by Gabriela Lima da Silva and included team members Luan Cordeiro, Miles Leonard, Angela Iza, and Estefania Fernandez. Their project communicates GOES-R Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) smoke/fire detection to a general audience.

This team tackled the problem of using accessible language to break down complex concepts and delivering them in relatable terms, in order to bridge the gap between scientific communities and the broader public, so that knowledge is not just confined to experts.

Their solution was to communicate the science of GOES satellites through one of the most used social media (TikTok) to provide scientific information with an added value by linking it to a common problem in areas where many people live.

Winner Challenge #2: Clouds Computing Clouds

The winning team for “Clouds Computing Clouds” was led by Mohamed Abdelkader and included Daniela Montano Bello, Jorge Bravo, Maria Moreno, Jessica Souza and Willem Matsane. Their project leverages GOES-R observations for near real-time monitoring of weather hazards over the continental United States.

This team tackled the problems of 1) Fragmented monitoring systems that often monitor hazards individually, leading to scattered information and delayed responses; 2) The need for a holistic view of conditions and an integrated solution.

They created a unified monitoring platform, the GOES-R Weather Hazards Web Portal, that combines near real-time monitoring of all hazards and an alert and notification system. Their solution ensures more efficient streamlined monitoring and better-informed decision-making.

NEXT GOES-R DataJam coming August 2025!

Stay tuned for news and reach out to goesr.hackathon@noaa.gov with questions or to be added to our DataJam interest distribution list.