Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) · 2004 · 25 citations · 1 references
Natural SciencesEarth SciencesMeteorologyAtmospheric ScienceNumerical Weather PredictionWeather ForecastingAtmospheric Sounding From SatellitesData AssimilationMedium-range ForecastingMesoscale ForecastingNumerical Weather Prediction Data AssimilationTropical Cyclone ForecastingCyclone Data AssimilationData Assimilation For Weather ForecastingData Assimilation Of Sounding ProductsHigh-resolution Numerical Weather PredictionMedium-range Temperature ForecastingSatellite Radiance AssimilationTropical Cyclone Track ForecastingTropical Cyclone Track Prediction
The Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS) is the U.S. Department of Defense's high-resolution global weather prediction system, which is used for operational mesoscale and oceanographic models and numerical weather prediction (NWP) research. The analysis for NOGAPS is produced by the NRL Atmospheric Variational Data Assimilation System (NAVDAS). On June 9, 2004, NAVDAS began operational assimilation of ASMU-A radiances from the Advanced TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (ATOVS) sensor suite onboard NOAA 15 and 16 for NOGAPS. The direct assimilation of AMSU-A radiances replaced the assimilation of ATOVS temperature retrievals produced by NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS). The results of medium-range forecast tests of radiance assimilation versus NESDIS ATOVS retrieval assimilation show substantial improvement in the forecasts of height, wind, and temperature in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. In the tropics, the tropical cyclone track errors are smaller with radiance assimilation, even though the upper- and lower-level errors are essentially the same. Overall, there are fewer forecast "busts" with radiance assimilation, especially in the Southern Hemisphere.
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