A preliminary assessment of UAS data impact on tropical cyclone track forecasts based on a global OSSE system

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) data are the first future observation system to be evaluated by NOAA using the newly developed global Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) system. Based on years of effort, the OSSE system has been calibrated by comparing observation impact in the Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation/Global Forecast System (GSI/GFS) between real archived data and synthetic OSSE data. This OSSE system is used to evaluate the potential use of UAS for the improvement of hurricane track forecasts. Experiments exploring the use of dropsondes deployed from high-altitude UAS near tropical cyclones in the Atlantic basin have been performed and the results are summarized.