Forecast impacts of assimilating Smartphone Pressure Observations in the Rapid Refresh Forecast System (RRFS)

High density pressure observations may help resolve important mesoscale weather features particularly in data sparse regions. Modern smartphones can measure real-time atmospheric pressure (generally at the surface), offering a high density coverage of observations. Here we assimilate surface pressure observations into the Rapid Refresh Forecast System (RRFS) from two networks: Smartphone Pressure Observations (SPO; provided by IBM/The Weather Company and gridded by Univ of Washington), and PurpleAir Pressure Observations (PPO). We explore several assimilation strategies, and compare spring/summer convective forecasts from the RRFS with and without the SPO/PPO observations in the data assimilation.