Verification and Sensitivity of the NCAR-AirDat Operational Forecasting Systems to TAMDAR Observations

During 2010, AirDat and NCAR have been optimizing the operational suite of CONUS-Scale Advanced Research WRF (ARW) models known as the NCAR-AirDat RTFDDA-WRF and the NCAR-AirDat 3D- and 4DVAR-WRF. These systems employ various assimilation frameworks and techniques, as well as both tropically and extratropically-tuned physics parameterizations.

The Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data Reporting (TAMDAR) sensor measures humidity, pressure, temperature, winds aloft, icing, and turbulence, along with the corresponding location, time, and altitude from built-in GPS. These observations are transmitted in real time to a ground-based network operations center via a global satellite network.

The objectives of this study are to (i) optimize impacts that TAMDAR data may have on the WRF-ARW forecasting systems, (ii) quantify any gains in forecast skill provided by more precisely assimilating asynpotic observations, and (iii) monitor the accuracy, contribution, and health of the TAMDAR QA system.

Preliminary verification results suggest that the proper assimilation of the TAMDAR data improves the analyses and forecasts of the NCAR-AirDat operational forecasting systems. These findings will be presented for 2010