The Utility of TAMDAR Regional Aircraft Sounding Data in Short-term Convective Forecasting

As a result of the Tropospheric Airborne Data Report (TAMDAR) Great Lakes Fleet Experiment (GLFE) which began in January 2005, real-time sounding data from commuter aircraft flying to smaller regional airports in the Great Lakes and Midwest were made available to National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters. The sounding data were displayable via the NOAA Forecast System Lab's (FSL) interactive aircraft data display (Java) website and the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS).

The forecast utility of regional TAMDAR aircraft sounding data in assessing short-term (0-12 hour) convective potential was evaluated in an operational NWS forecast setting. Several brief case studies will be presented to illustrate how the higher spatial and temporal resolution soundings (supplemented with other observational and model forecast datasets) allowed forecasters to more effectively monitor changes in important convective parameters such as low-level convective available potential energy (CAPE), convective inhibition (CIN) and low-level wind shear. As a result, forecasters attained more confidence and were able to more effectively identify and refine areas of greatest convective potential and better anticipate the type (e.g., elevated, pulse severe, tornadic, etc.) of the severe weather threat.