Processed NOAA-15 and NOAA-16 ATOVS radiances from NESDIS are currently being used in the four-dimensional variational (4DVar) assimilation system of ARPEGE, the global numerical weather prediction model at Météo-France; impacts on analysis and forecast of using those data will first be presented.

Potential benefit of using ATOVS locally received data for mesoscale applications and raw radiances without collocation and 1DVar inversion are currently under investigation. Major developments in that respect concern the extrapolation of model fields above the top of the model as an input to the radiative transfer model, the radiance bias correction, the optimal density of observations and the quality control.

The third panel of the presentation will deal with experimental assimilation of total column water vapour and surface wind speed over the ocean derived from the SSM/I one-dimensional variational (1DVar) scheme developed at ECMWF. The model fit to other observations and the impacts of both retrieved products on analysis and forecast will be presented.