Satellite data assimilation

Description

Tony McNally from ECMWF speaks about data assimilation of polar orbiting satellites. He gives an insight into the methods used and accentuates the benefits of satellite data in general for the forecast skills.

Content

This lecture introduces the central role played by data assimilation in Numerical Weather Prediction, Climate Reanalysis and Environmental monitoring. It will be shown that radiance observations from polar orbiting satellites are the single most influential component of the global observing network and the impact of these data on forecast quality will be demonstrated. Finally, the major scientific challenges facing the successful exploitation of satellite radiance observations will be discussed - in particular issues related to vertical resolution, cloud and precipitation contamination and systematic errors.

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