Assimilating Satellite-Retrieved Temperature and Moisture Profiles and Its Impact on Typhoon Forecasts

In a regional NWP, most conventional observations have difficulty in describing the vertical atmospheric temperature and moisture structures except the upper-level observations from radiosondes at 00 and 12 UTC. Therefore, the satellite temperature and moisture profiles from the combined retrieval of the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) are a valuable supplement to current observational data to represent the atmospheric information especially at 06 and 18 UTC. In this study, both the retrieved clear-sky and cloudy profiles are assimilated in the regional NWP model (WRF) with conventional observations. The assimilating impacts on typhoon track and intensity forecasts are shown in the case of Typhoon Saola (2012).