Sunday, 11 January 2009
How Integrating MODIS Data Enhances Numerical Predictions of Sea Breezes
Phoenix Convention Center
The wide distribution of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model has led to National Weather Service (NWS) field offices around the country engaging in the process of local numerical weather prediction (NWP). The manner in which these local WRF models are initialized is typically ineffective. Better initialization files could be constructed by using satellite data, including observations from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) satellites, Aqua and Terra, and from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) sounders. Significant work has already been done infusing GOES sounder data into NWP. This poster examines previous, current, and future work related to the integration of sea surface temperature data from the two polar-orbiting NASA satellites equipped with MODerate- resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS) into initialization datasets ingested by numerical weather forecast models. These new initialization datasets will be distributed to select marine NWS offices with the intent of adding value to the local NWP programs that currently exist, as well as for direct evaluation via forecaster use.
Supplementary URL: http://ftp://ftp.ssec.wisc.edu/pub/jordang/talkpost/MODISforSB_11Jan09.pdf