scholarly journals Use of Microwave Radiances from Metop-C and Fengyun-3 C/D Satellites for a Northern European Limited-area Data Assimilation System

Author(s):  
Magnus Lindskog ◽  
Adam Dybbroe ◽  
Roger Randriamampianina

AbstractMetCoOp is a Nordic collaboration on operational Numerical Weather Prediction based on a common limited-area km-scale ensemble system. The initial states are produced using a 3-dimensional variational data assimilation scheme utilizing a large amount of observations from conventional in-situ measurements, weather radars, global navigation satellite system, advanced scatterometer data and satellite radiances from various satellite platforms. A version of the forecasting system which is aimed for future operations has been prepared for an enhanced assimilation of microwave radiances. This enhanced data assimilation system will use radiances from the Microwave Humidity Sounder, the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A and the Micro-Wave Humidity Sounder-2 instruments on-board the Metop-C and Fengyun-3 C/D polar orbiting satellites. The implementation process includes channel selection, set-up of an adaptive bias correction procedure, and careful monitoring of data usage and quality control of observations. The benefit of the additional microwave observations in terms of data coverage and impact on analyses, as derived using the degree of freedom of signal approach, is demonstrated. A positive impact on forecast quality is shown, and the effect on the precipitation for a case study is examined. Finally, the role of enhanced data assimilation techniques and adaptions towards nowcasting are discussed.

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 1603-1611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett T. Hoover ◽  
David A. Santek ◽  
Anne-Sophie Daloz ◽  
Yafang Zhong ◽  
Richard Dworak ◽  
...  

Abstract Automated aircraft observations of wind and temperature have demonstrated positive impact on numerical weather prediction since the mid-1980s. With the advent of the Water Vapor Sensing System (WVSS-II) humidity sensor, the expanding fleet of commercial aircraft with onboard automated sensors is also capable of delivering high quality moisture observations, providing vertical profiles of moisture as aircraft ascend out of and descend into airports across the continental United States. Observations from the WVSS-II have to date only been monitored within the Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS) without being assimilated. In this study, aircraft moisture observations from the WVSS-II are assimilated into the GDAS, and their impact is assessed in the Global Forecast System (GFS). A two-season study is performed, demonstrating a statistically significant positive impact on both the moisture forecast and the precipitation forecast at short range (12–36 h) during the warm season. No statistically significant impact is observed during the cold season.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Máté Mile ◽  
Roger Randriamampianina ◽  
Gert-Jan Marseille

<p align="justify">Nowadays, satellite observations are providing primary information for initial conditions of state-of-the-art numerical weather prediction (NWP) systems and the amount of remote sensing data in the Global Observing System increases rapidly. However, the way such data are assimilated is usually conservative and sub-optimal especially in high resolution limited-area models. Our objective is to improve the use of scatterometer observations from polar-orbiting satellites by taking into account the observation footprint and reducing the observation representation error through the observation operator.</p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify">The variational assimilation system (including 3D- and 4D-Var) of HARMONIE-AROME is widely used for research and operational NWP purposes by many European countries. In most cases, the HARMONIE-AROME model and its data assimilation are run on higher resolution (corresponding to around 2.5km grid size or smaller) than the effective resolution of some satellite observations (e.g. the effective resolution of scatterometer instruments). The use of ASCAT scatterometer observations is studied in an Arctic data assimilation system (AROME-Arctic) and a new observation operator (called supermodding) is evaluated in terms of scatterometer representation error. The results are demonstrated through data assimilation diagnostics, observing system experiments and case studies focusing on the challenges of the Arctic weather forecasting as well.</p>


2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 3581-3610
Author(s):  
S. Federico

Abstract. This paper presents the current status of development of a three-dimensional variational data assimilation system. The system can be used with different numerical weather prediction models, but it is mainly designed to be coupled with the Regional Atmospheric Modelling System (RAMS). Analyses are given for the following parameters: zonal and meridional wind components, temperature, relative humidity, and geopotential height. Important features of the data assimilation system are the use of incremental formulation of the cost-function, and the use of an analysis space represented by recursive filters and eigenmodes of the vertical background error matrix. This matrix and the length-scale of the recursive filters are estimated by the National Meteorological Center (NMC) method. The data assimilation and forecasting system is applied to the real context of atmospheric profiling data assimilation, and in particular to the short-term wind prediction. The analyses are produced at 20 km horizontal resolution over central Europe and extend over the whole troposphere. Assimilated data are vertical soundings of wind, temperature, and relative humidity from radiosondes, and wind measurements of the European wind profiler network. Results show the validity of the analysis solutions because they are closer to the observations (lower RMSE) compared to the background (higher RMSE), and the differences of the RMSEs are consistent with the data assimilation settings. To quantify the impact of improved initial conditions on the short-term forecast, the analyses are used as initial conditions of a three-hours forecast of the RAMS model. In particular two sets of forecasts are produced: (a) the first uses the ECMWF analysis/forecast cycle as initial and boundary conditions; (b) the second uses the analyses produced by the 3-D-Var scheme as initial conditions, then is driven by the ECMWF forecast. The improvement is quantified by considering the horizontal components of the wind, which are measured at a-synoptic times by the European wind profiler network. The results show that the RMSE is effectively reduced at the short range (1–2 h). The results are in agreement with the set-up of the numerical experiment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 146 (729) ◽  
pp. 1923-1938 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. C. Peter Heng ◽  
Robert Tubbs ◽  
Xiang‐Yu Huang ◽  
Bruce Macpherson ◽  
Dale M. Barker ◽  
...  

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 1140-1152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunha Lim ◽  
Juanzhen Sun

Abstract A Doppler velocity dealiasing algorithm is developed within the storm-scale four-dimensional radar data assimilation system known as the Variational Doppler Radar Analysis System (VDRAS). The innovative aspect of the algorithm is that it dealiases Doppler velocity at each grid point independently by using three-dimensional wind fields obtained either from an objective analysis using conventional observations and mesoscale model output or from a rapidly updated analysis of VDRAS that assimilates radar data. This algorithm consists of three steps: preserving horizontal shear, global dealiasing using reference wind from the objective analysis or the VDRAS analysis, and local dealiasing. It is automated and intended to be used operationally for radar data assimilation using numerical weather prediction models. The algorithm was tested with 384 volumes of radar data observed from the Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) for a severe thunderstorm that occurred during 15 June 2002. It showed that the algorithm was effective in dealiasing large areas of aliased velocities when the wind from the objective analysis was used as the reference and that more accurate dealiasing was achieved by using the continuously cycled VDRAS analysis.


2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 11927-11956 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Kwon ◽  
J.-S. Kang ◽  
Y. Jo ◽  
J. H. Kang

Abstract. The Korea Institute of Atmospheric Prediction Systems (KIAPS) has been developing a new global numerical weather prediction model and an advanced data assimilation system. As part of the KIAPS Package for Observation Processing (KPOP) system for data assimilation, preprocessing and quality control modules for bending angle measurements of global positioning system radio occultation (GPS-RO) data have been implemented and examined. GPS-RO data processing system is composed of several steps for checking observation locations, missing values, physical values for Earth radius of curvature, and geoid undulation. An observation-minus-background check is implemented by use of a one-dimensional observational bending angle operator and tangent point drift is also considered in the quality control process. We have tested GPS-RO observations utilized by the Korean Meteorological Administration (KMA) within KPOP, based on both the KMA global model and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Atmosphere Model-Spectral Element (CAM-SE) as a model background. Background fields from the CAM-SE model are incorporated for the preparation of assimilation experiments with the KIAPS-LETKF data assimilation system, which has been successfully implemented to a cubed-sphere model with fully unstructured quadrilateral meshes. As a result of data processing, the bending angle departure statistics between observation and background shows significant improvement. Also, the first experiment in assimilating GPS-RO bending angle resulting from KPOP within KIAPS-LETKF shows encouraging results.


2018 ◽  
Vol 146 (7) ◽  
pp. 2221-2236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bachir Annane ◽  
Brian McNoldy ◽  
S. Mark Leidner ◽  
Ross Hoffman ◽  
Robert Atlas ◽  
...  

Abstract In preparation for the launch of the NASA Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS), a variety of observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs) were conducted to develop, tune, and assess methods of assimilating these novel observations of ocean surface winds. From a highly detailed and realistic hurricane nature run (NR), CYGNSS winds were simulated with error characteristics that are expected to occur in reality. The OSSE system makes use of NOAA’s HWRF Model and GSI data assimilation system in a configuration that was operational in 2012. CYGNSS winds were assimilated as scalar wind speeds and as wind vectors determined by a variational analysis method (VAM). Both forms of wind information had positive impacts on the short-term HWRF forecasts, as shown by key storm and domain metrics. Data assimilation cycle intervals of 1, 3, and 6 h were tested, and the 3-h impacts were consistently best. One-day forecasts from CYGNSS VAM vector winds were the most dynamically consistent with the NR. The OSSEs have a number of limitations; the most noteworthy is that this is a case study, and static background error covariances were used.


2013 ◽  
Vol 141 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-111
Author(s):  
Luiz F. Sapucci ◽  
Dirceu L. Herdies ◽  
Renata W. B. Mendonça

Abstract Water vapor plays a crucial role in atmospheric processes and its distribution is associated with cloud-cover fraction and rainfall. The inclusion of integrated water vapor (IWV) estimates in numerical weather prediction improves the vertical structure of the humidity analysis and consequently contributes to obtaining a more realistic atmospheric state. Currently, satellite remote sensing is the most important source of humidity measurements in the Southern Hemisphere, providing information with good horizontal resolution and global coverage. In this study, the inclusion of IWV retrieved from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder/Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A (AIRS/AMSU) and Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) were investigated as additional information in the Physical-space Statistical Analysis System (PSAS), which is the operational data assimilation system at the Center for Weather Forecasting and Climate Studies of the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (CPTEC/INPE). Experiments were carried out with and without the assimilation of IWV values from both sensors. Results show that, in general, the IWV assimilation reduces the error in short-range forecasts of humidity profile, particularly over tropical regions. In these experiments, an analysis of the impact of the inclusion of IWV values from SSM/I and AIRS/AMSU sensors was done. Results indicated that the impact of the SSM/I values is significant over high-latitude oceanic regions in the Southern Hemisphere, while the impact of AIRS/AMSU values is more significant over continental regions where surface measurements are scarce, such as the Amazonian region. In that area the assimilation of IWV values from the AIRS/AMSU sensor shows a tendency to reduce the overestimate of the precipitation in short-range forecasts.


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