NOAA Quantitative Observing System Assessment Program (QOSAP) Recent OSSE and OSE activities

The NOAA Quantitative Observing System Assessment Program (QOSAP) coordinates and conducts observations impact evaluation for current and proposed observing strategies. Earlier observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs) with radio-occultation (RO) profiles and microwave and infrared satellite radiances have been extended to include 3-dimensional winds from space. Both active (doppler wind lidar) and passive (moisture tracking features) approaches are currently being investigated. These experiments help evaluate the complementarity and potential tradeoffs for different observing configurations. Furthermore, ongoing OSSE efforts under QOSAP also include analysis of the benefits of assimilating RO observations beyond current numbers. With the increase of RO sources from public and private sectors, understanding expected increased benefits in terms of forecast skill is necessary for planning and decision making. In addition to OSSE studies, QOSAP has also undertaken work to quantify and optimize the impact of existing observations, including WindBorne balloons and RO data from the NOAA Commercial Weather Data Program (CWDP). Under the CWDP RO evaluation and optimization project, data impact for global and hurricane applications has been investigated. In terms of quantitative assessment capabilities, significant progress has been made towards developing a hurricane OSSE system with the Hurricane Analysis and Forecast System (HAFS), and the system is now being finalized, so it can be used to investigate the impact of proposed observations in hurricane weather forecasting. Finally, significant progress in generating a global ocean OSSE system has been made over the past year. During this presentation, relevant results from recent OSE/OSSE evaluations as well as main accomplishments towards building the hurricane and ocean OSSE/OSE capabilities will be presented.