Satellite data assimilation in global forecast system in India

Abstract

Satellite data is very important for model initialization and verification. A large number of satellite observations are currently assimilated into the Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) systems at the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF). Apart from Global meteorological observations from GTS, near-real time satellite observations are received at NCMRWF from other operational centres like ISRO, NOAA/NESDIS, EUMETCAST, etc. Recently India has become member of Asia-Pacific Regional ATOVS Retransmission Service (APRARS) for faster access to high resolution global satellite data useful for high resolution regional models. Indian HRPT at Chennai covers the APRARS data gap region over South East Asia. A robust data monitoring system has been implemented at NCMRWF to assess the quantity and quality of the data as well as the satellite sensor strength, before getting assimilated in the models. Validation of new satellite observations, especially from Indian satellites are being carried out against insitu observations and similar space borne platforms. After establishing the quality of the data, Observation System Experiments (OSEs) are being conducted to study their impact in the assimilation and forecast systems. OSEs have been carried out with the Oceansat-2 scatterometer winds and radiance data from Megha-Tropiques SAPHIR sensor. Daily rainfall analysis dataset is being generated by merging satellite estimates and in-situ observations. ASCAT soil wetness measurements from METOP satellite is being assimilated into the global model. Land surface parameters (LuLc and albedo) retrieved from Indian satellites are being explored for its possible usage in the global and regional models. OLR from Indian satellites are used for validating model outputs. This paper reviews the efforts made at NCMRWF in (i) assimilating the data from Indian/International satellites and (ii) generating useful products from the satellite data.