Extended Abstract (1.6M)JP2.12
Analysis of midlatitude storms with winds and pressures from QuikSCAT
Robert A. Brown, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; and J. Patoux
The analysis of mid-latitude storms with QuikSCAT data is greatly facilitated by surface pressure fields in conjunction with the surface winds. A technique for deriving the surface pressure map from QuikSCAT data along a swath using the University of Washington Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) nonlinear similarity model is shown to produce fields comparable with those of NCEP. Some increased detail is available from the QuikSCAT superior 25-km resolution. The storm center is well-defined, agreeing with numerical model results in the Northern Hemisphere while yielding better location and stronger storms in the tropics and Southern Hemisphere. The fronts, including some information about the development of frontal waves, are evident to within 25 km. In addition, the surface pressure fields, with their concurrent geostrophic and gradient winds, are advantageous for smoothing the surface winds and replacing rain-contaminated or missing data. A description of the techniques, verification of the product and some examples will be given.
Supplementary URL: http://pbl.atmos.washington.edu
Joint Poster Session 2, Scatterometer Observations of Air-Sea Interaction (Joint Poster Session between the 12th Conference on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography and the 12th Conference on Interactions of the Sea and Atmosphere)
Wednesday, 12 February 2003, 2:30 PM-4:30 PM
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