Satellite wind experiments in GMAO GEOS-5 system

The impact of satellite-derived atmospheric motion vectors (AMVs) on numerical weather forecasts is examined using the GEOS-5 global atmospheric data assimilation system. All AMVs operationally used in the GEOS-5 control run are replaced by AMV's produced by the U.S. Navy's NAVDAS-AR atmospheric data assimilation system that is larger in volume and specially averaged (“superobing"). Preliminary results show improvements with the NAVDS-AR data selection. Different AMV subsets and settings of the GEOS-5 system are used to further determine the main cause of improvements in the impact of the AMV on the GMAO GEOS-5 system.