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Appendix C Blending Earth Observations and Models -- The Successful Paradigm of Weather Forecasting
Pages 392-409

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From page 392...
... Joint use of the satellite and in situ data for diagnostic and prediction purposes posed substantial scientific challenges that were not satisfactorily resolved in operational practice until the mid-1990s with the development of four-dimensional variational data-assimilation systems.
From page 393...
... Optimal estimation of the evolving state of the atmosphere over a period (say, 1 day) requires one to use not only the observations available in that time window but also earlier observations and knowledge of the laws governing atmospheric evolution.
From page 394...
... An important aspect of the data-assimilation procedure is that on scales of 5 years or so, sustained scientific efforts usually deliver important improvements in the quality of the satellite data (for example, from improved calibrations and cross-calibrations) , in the quality of the algorithms used to interpret the satellite measurements to geophysical quantities, in the quality of the assimilating models, and in the quality of the assimilation algorithms.
From page 395...
... As a result of the dialogue between the research teams and the operational teams, selected elements of the AIRS radiance data were introduced into operational use within 18 months of launch, in October 2003, and continue to be used for weather forecasting and seasonal forecasting. the diVersitY Of MeteOrOLOGicaL aNd OceaNOGraphic OBserVatiONs A wide range of atmospheric and ocean data are available and used in current operational practice, and many more data are available for scientific research.
From page 396...
... 396 FIGURE C.1 Reports from land stations and ships. SOURCE: Courtesy of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
From page 397...
... . SOURCE: Courtesy of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
From page 398...
... 398 FIGURE C.3 Temperature and humidity measurements from weather balloons. SOURCE: Courtesy of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
From page 399...
... . SOURCE: Courtesy of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
From page 400...
... 400 FIGURE C.5 Aircraft reports of wind and temperature. SOURCE: Courtesy of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
From page 401...
... SOURCE: Courtesy of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
From page 402...
... 402 FIGURE C.7 Microwave brightness temperature measurements from AMSU-A instruments on NOAA 15/16/18 and from HSB instrument on Aqua. SOURCE: Courtesy of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
From page 403...
... FIGURE C.8 Infrared radiance measurements from AIRS instrument on NASA's Aqua mission for estimation of air and sea-surface temperature, humidity, ozone, and CO2. SOURCE: Courtesy of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
From page 404...
... 404 FIGURE C.9 Microwave brightness temperature measurements from SSM/I instruments on DMSP series FP-13, FP-14, FP-15, used for estimating, among other things, total column humidity, ocean-surface wind speed, surface rain intensity, and cloud liquid-water content. SOURCE: Courtesy of European Centre for MediumRange Weather Forecasts.
From page 405...
... FIGURE C.10 Normalized radar backscatter measurements from ocean surface made by QuikSCAT and ERS-2 missions, which are used to infer surface wind speed and direction over ocean. SOURCE: Courtesy of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
From page 406...
... GOES-12 mission, from European METEOSAT 5 and 8 missions, and from Japanese MTSAT mission. In high polar latitudes, plot also shows atmospheric motion vectors estimated from time-lapse imagery in infrared water-vapor band from MODIS instrument on NASA's Terra mission.
From page 407...
... FIGURE C.12 Measurements of atmospheric radiance in infrared, used for temperature and humidity estimation, from GOES-12 mission, and from METEOSAT 5 and 8 missions. SOURCE: Courtesy of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
From page 408...
... 408 EARTH SCIENCE AND APPLICATIONS FROM SPACE FIGURE C.13 Radar altimeter coverage in a 24-hour period from Jason and Envisat missions. SOURCE: Courtesy of Saleh Abdalla and Peter Janssen, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
From page 409...
... In Situ Ocean Temperature profiles 10-day period centred on 00:00UTC, Jan 29, 2007 2648 ARGO 356 XBT 1097 moorings FIGURE C.14 Buildup of Argo: Data coverage for February 2005. SOURCE: Courtesy of Magdalena Alonso Balmaseda, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.


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