Preliminary Assessment the Assimilation of AMSR2 and GMI Data in the NCEP GDAS

The Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation (JCSDA) is currently taking part in efforts to use data collected during the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission to improve numerical weather prediction (NWP) forecasts. Here we present the status and preliminary results of work supported by the JCSDA to assimilate radiance data from the GPM Microwave Imager (GMI), on board the GPM core satellite, and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2), on board the GPM constellation's first Global Change Observation Mission – Water (GCOM-W1) satellite, into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS). Both AMSR2 and GMI provide quick global coverage of brightness temperatures at fine resolutions, and over a wide range of electromagnetic frequencies. The data from these sensors has the potential to improve model analyses and forecasts, if these data are appropriately assimilated. NOAA/NESDIS/STAR, in support of the JCSDA, is working to ingest AMSR2 channels 1-14 (covering the entire range of AMSR2's frequencies) and all GMI channels, from co-registered data, into the GDAS using Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation (GSI). To be discussed here are the efforts to optimize the assimilation of GMI and AMSR2 radiances in the GSI. Preliminary results of the impacts of assimilating these data, as well as an overview of sensor-specific data thinning and quality control measures that have been employed in the assimilation process, will be shown. Pre-assimilation assessments of AMSR2 and GMI data performed with JCSDA's Community Observation Assessment Tool (COAT), which are used to inform quality control measures, will also be touched upon.