Evolving the USAF’s Cloud Forecasting and Analysis Capabilities

The U.S. Air Force (USAF) cloud analysis forecasting system, now known as CDFS-II, had its first iteration crafted in the 1960s and provided crucial weather information throughout decades of missions. However, as time progressed and numerical weather prediction (NWP) advanced, artifacts were noted in the CDFS-II output and opportunity was seen to modernize the system by shifting to a blend of NWP and observations. The first step in this evolution consisted of implementing cloud parameters within the USAF’s Global Air-Land Weather Exploitation Model (GALWEM) post-processing suite, replicating key elements of CDFS-II with NWP output. This presentation will discuss the results of that replication, including areas where the new output is better able to capture crucial cloud parameters, how the new output eliminates artifacts seen in CDFS-II, and next steps as the system continues to evolve.