Impact of satellite derived winds and cumulus physics during the occurrence of the tropical cyclone Phyan

Abstract

The quantitative data such as satellite derived winds are useful for improvement of the numerical prediction of weather events like tropical cyclones. In this study, the satellite derived winds from QuikSCAT surface observations and KALPANA-1 atmospheric motion vectors are used during the cyclone PHYAN in order to update the initial and boundary conditions through three-dimensional variational assimilation technique within the Weather Research Forecasting (WRF) modeling system. The simulated mean sea level pressure and 850 hPa wind fields from eight experiments are presented in this study in order to analyze the observed and simulated features of the tropical cyclone PHYAN that occurred in the month of November, 2009. The model results are also compared with the KALPANA-1 images and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted results. Further, the intensity and track of the cyclonic storm PHYAN, generated from the simulations are also compared with the IMD predictions in order to evaluate the model performance. Keywords: WRF modeling system, variational assimilation, satellite derived winds, cloud motion vectors, cyclonic storm