Evaluating the benefits of TAMDAR data in convective forecasting

The TAMDAR (Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data Reporting) Sensor is an airborne atmospheric instrument developed under contract by AirDat for NASA. It is aircraft mounted and measures or calculates: winds, temperature, humidity, turbulence, pressure altitude, airspeed and icing. A TAMDAR network is currently installed on 50 Mesaba Saab-340s.

Studies by the National Center for Atmospheric Research have shown an increase in forecasting skill of the NCAR Auto-Nowcaster and VDRAS (Variational Doppler Radar Analysis System) when TAMDAR data is included in the data ingest. TAMDAR data has also been found to be of value to National Weather Service Forecasters in an operational setting. In this paper, several brief case studies will be presented to illustrate how the higher spatial and temporal resolution TAMDAR soundings can better allow forecasters to follow the evolution of convective inhibition (CIN) fields, temperature and humidity profiles, and wind shear; which can lead to more accurate forecasts of convection.