Extended Abstract (460K)P1.6
Simulation of the impact of new aircraft and space-based ocean surface wind measurements on H*Wind analyses
Timothy L. Miller, NASA/MSFC, Huntsville, AL; and R. M. Atlas, P. G. Black, J. L. Case, S. S. Chen, R. E. Hood, J. W. Johnson, L. Jones, C. S. Ruf, and E. W. Uhlhorn
The H*Wind analysis, a product of the Hurricane Research Division of NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, brings together wind measurements from a variety of observation platforms into an objective analysis of the distribution of wind speeds in a tropical cyclone. This product is designed to improve understanding of the extent and strength of the wind field, and to improve the assessment of hurricane intensity. See http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/data_sub/wind.html.
The Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRad) is a new airborne microwave remote sensor for hurricane observations that is currently under development by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, NOAA Hurricane Research Division, the University of Central Florida and the University of Michigan. HIRad is being designed to enhance the real-time airborne ocean surface winds observation capabilities of NOAA and USAF Weather Squadron hurricane hunter aircraft using the operational airborne Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR). Unlike SFMR, which measures wind speed and rain rate along the ground track directly beneath the aircraft, HIRad will provide images of the surface wind and rain field over a wide swath (~ 3 x the aircraft altitude). The instrument is described in a paper presented to the Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology Symposium.
The present paper describes a set of Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) in which measurements from the new instrument as well as those from existing instruments (air, surface, and space-based) are simulated from the output of a numerical model from the University of Miami, and those results are used to construct H*Wind analyses. Evaluations will be presented on the impact of the HIRad instrument on H*Wind analyses, both in terms of adding it to the full suite of current measurements, as well as using it to replace instrument(s) that may not be functioning at the future time the HIRad instrument is implemented.
Poster Session 1, IOAS Poster Session I: Data Assimilation and Impact Studies
Monday, 21 January 2008, 2:30 PM-4:00 PM, Exhibit Hall B
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