ATOVS and SSMI assimilation at the Met Office.ppt

ATOVS and SSM/I assimilation at the Met Office Stephen English, Dave Jones, Andrew Smith, Fiona Hilton and Keith Whyte NWP system for ATOVS+SSM/I Status NOAA-15 AMSU 4-12 NOAA-14 MSU 2-4 HIRS 1-8, 10-15 DMSP-F13 Windspeed Impact of satellite and relevant assimilation change since introduction of 3D-var March 29 1999 ? ? ? ? ? ? Introduction of 3DVAR and NOAA-15 ATOVS July 20 1999 ? Use of ATOVS over Siberia, covariance retuning, increased thinning of scatterometer winds October 19 1999 ? ? ? Direct assimilation of (A)TOVS Radiances, Use of Surface Wind from SSM/I, Remove scatterometer winds over ice, improved use of Synop pressures May 16 2000 ? ? Time interpolation of background, covariance retuning February 13 2001 ? Second SSM/I satellite, humidity covariance retuning, improved use of AMSU channel 5 in cloudy conditions April 18 2001 ? ? Use of AMSU-B and NOAA-16 ATOVS replaces NOAA-14 TOVS October 17 2001 ? ? ? Improved use of SSM/I, AMVs, ATOVS thinning, ATOVS over sea ice ATOVS changes 1. AMSU channel 5: increased use in cloudy areas Date: Feb 13 2001 Trials: Dec 99 + Jul 00 Method Stop using HIRS cloud flag status when cloud checking for AMSU ch.5 Impact Large at short range improved fit to radiances and radiosondes at T+6 RMSE slightly lower (? 1-2%) for height at T+24-T+72, especially in SH and tropics (RMSE ? 3% at 700 hPa in tropics), but 1% improvement for winds and RH. Neutral in medium range (T+96-T+144) 2. Replacement of NOAA-14 TOVS with NOAA-16 ATOVS Date: April 18 2001 Trials: Mar-Apr 01 Method As NOAA-15 ATOVS. Impact Replacing NOAA-14 with NOAA-16 had a very large impact 500 hPa height RMSE ? 10% in SH and ? 3-5% in NH at short and medium range Also losing NOAA-14 without replacing with NOAA-16 would have had a significant negative impact The largest impact of any ATOVS change since the original introduction of NOAA-15 3. Use of AMSU-B from NOA