Applying Himawari and JPSS Satellite Products for Forecasting Rapid Cyclogenesis and Hurricane-force Wind Events

The advent of advanced satellite sensors such as the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R) series Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) and Himawari-8 Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) will provide a broader spectrum of data compared to current satellite sensors.  In addition, the Joint Polar Satellite System – first edition (JPSS-1), which is the follow-on to the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite, offers up unique ways to combine datasets and further analyze significant weather events.  More bands and products, not commonly used in operations will be available to forecasters to analyze high impact weather events.  The use of multispectral composite imagery is one method to take advantage of the increased data volume and allow forecasters to analyze multiple satellite bands at once.  The European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) led the development of multispectral composites in conjunction with the launch of Meteosat Second Generation with the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) instrument onboard.  The Air Mass multispectral composite, or Red, Green, Blue (RGB) imagery, was designed to enhance regions of warm, dry, ozone rich stratospheric air to anticipate rapid cyclogenesis.  Identification of stratospheric intrusions and tropopause folding events are an important factor in anticipating rapid cyclogenesis.  In addition, large, deep extratropical cyclones are capable of producing damaging surface winds which can be driven by tropopause folding events.  Since the Air Mass RGB is qualitative in nature, ozone products derived from hyperspectral infrared sounders such as the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), Cross-track Infrared Sounder/Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (CrIS/ATMS), and Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) are compared to the RGB.  The CrIS/ATMS atmospheric profiles processed though the NOAA Unique Combined Atmospheric Processing System (NUCAPS) add a significant advantage in analyzing the synoptic and mesoscale environments of these storms due to the ability to diagnose the vertical distribution of thermodynamic variables.  This presentation will focus on highlighting how these products were used to analyze many of the significant hurricane-force extratropical cyclones that traversed the North Pacific during the winter of 2015-2016.  These techniques are also being introduced to forecasters in Alaska Region in collaboration with work done at the NOAA Satellite Proving Ground for Marine, Precipitation, and Satellite Analysis.