Accelerated Uses of Suomi NPP Data in HWRF for Improving Hurricane/Typhoon Forecasts

The Advanced Technology of Microwave Sounder (ATMS) and the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) on board Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (SNPP) satellite provide data for profiling atmospheric temperature and moisture under all weather conditions and supporting continuing advances in data assimilation and NWP modeling. As of today, both ATMS and CrIS radiances are well calibrated and the SDR data (or Level1B radiances) have reached a provisional level for user applications. However, in operational Hurricane Weather Research and Forecast Model (HWRF), the satellite radiances have not been directly assimilated. This study will present our research results from direct assimilation of satellite sounding radiances from NOAA, METOP and SNPP satellites in HWRF. The NCEP's Gridded Statistical Interpolation (GSI) scheme is configured for effective assimilation of upper-level satellite sounding channels from CrIS/IASI and ATMS/AMSU. The quality control and bias correction schemes in GSI are revisited and revised for optimal radiance assimilation. It is demonstrated that uses of ATMS and CrIS in HWRF improve the forecasts in track and intensity in 2012 and 2013 hurricane seasons.