RO data exploitation to optimize impact of COSMIC-2 to improve global and hurricane numerical weather forecasts at NOAA

The successful launch of COSMIC-2 brings excitement for potential scientific advances in observing and understanding the thermodynamic state of the atmosphere. Most relevant to current operational numerical weather prediction, radio occultation (RO) soundings from COSMIC-2 are expected to penetrate deeper into the lower moist tropical troposphere than previous RO missions due to an improved RO receiver and larger antennas with higher signal-to-noise-ratio.

In preparation for the launch of COSMIC-2 and to gain a better understanding of the potential benefits obtained from a constellation of RO receivers, NOAA conducted a series of tradeoff studies in the design and configuration of RO satellites in equatorial and polar orbits. In particular, the number of RO soundings and their accuracy and spatial coverage were investigated in an Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE). These studies used the current operational RO data assimilation algorithms, which are not optimized for the lower tropical troposphere. Large vertical gradients of water vapor, horizontal inhomogeneities, and layers of super-refraction limit the use and impact of these observations in the tropics, which is the geographical area that will be largely sampled with COSMIC-2. During this talk, we will describe ongoing efforts and future plans to advance RO data assimilation approaches to accelerate the transition to operations of COSMIC-2 data and to optimize the impact of these observations in tropical and hurricane weather prediction.