Impact of newly available types of remote sensing data at MSC (Invited Presentation)

A sizeable upgrade for the operational assimilation has been tested at MSC. It consists in both new data types and data from replacement satellites. New data include cloud track winds (SATWIND) derived from the MODIS instrument when flying over polar regions onboard AQUA and TERRA satellites. The second type of new data are wind profiles from both U.S and European ground profiler networks. The AQUA satellite provides AMSUA ATOVS radiances which are assimilated to compensate for the lost of that instrument on NOAA-17. Finally water vapor imager channel radiances from GOES-12 replace the void left by the withdrawal of GOES-08. Results from two-month assimilation cycles and forecasts are presented for each data source. The results from the combined cycle are also shown, representing the upgrade actually proposed for implementation.