OSSE Assessment of a Hyperspectral Sounder and its Potential Impact on Hurricane Forecasts

A method for performing regional Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) has been developed at NOAA/AOML's Hurricane Research Division to evaluate the potential impact of proposed observing systems on hurricane track and intensity forecasts and analyses. One prospective observing system is the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), a space-based hyperspectral sounder that retrieves temperature and moisture profiles with accuracies comparable to radiosondes. Retrievals from AIRS were simulated from a regional WRF ARW Nature Run (Nolan et al., 2013) spanning 13 days, covering the life cycle of a rapidly intensifying Atlantic tropical cyclone. The temperature and moisture observations were simulated in a variety of ways, testing polar versus geostationary orbits at various temporal and spatial resolutions. This project aims to assess the potential impact of the AIRS observing system and to demonstrate the sensitivity of the different sets of AIRS retrievals in AOML's HWRF and GSI based regional OSSE system.