Application of Seasat Scatterometer Wind Measurements for Operational Short-Range Weather Forecasting

Peteherych, S.; Appleby, William; Woiceshyn, P. M.; Spagnol, John C.; Chu, L.-B.

doi:10.1175/1520-0434(1988)003<0089:aosswm>2.0.co;2

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Geernaert et al (1986) and Byrne (1982) discuss variations in the drag coefficient across fronts based on surface or aircraft measurements. Peteherych et al (1988) found that adding scatterometer surface winds to the synoptic data improved short-range weather forecasts for the west coast of Canada and the United States in six case studies due to significant improvements in the surface analyses.…”

Section: Sassmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legacy of the Seasat Mission for Studies of the Atmosphere and Air-Sea-Ice Interactions

Katsaros

Brown

1991

Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The polar-orbiting satellite, Seasat, had been designed as an oceanographic satellite with little advance thought being given to atmospheric uses. However, the microwave instruments provided a rich source of data for studying atmospheric conditions. The simultaneous sampling by several instruments generated special benefits , a situation which to date has not been repeated. In this review we emphasize studies of midlatitude and tropical cyclones and regional weather and climate analyses. We also touch upon studies of long swell, sea ice, and continental ice sheets with Seasat data. Many of these results of the Seasat mission were serendipitous. In preparation for the major NASA initiative for the next decade, the Earth Observing Satellite (EOS) program, we thought it timely to bring some of the Seasat experiences to the fore, since valuable lessons can be learned from the successes and the failures (or omissions) of the Seasat program. We have learned of: 1) the synergistic value of integrated, overlapping sampling by several instruments, 2) the invaluable contribution of carefully planned surface measurements, and 3) the importance of retaining flexibility in the system (enough data retention) to allow unexpected and innovative analysis techniques.

show abstract

Section: Sassmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legacy of the Seasat Mission for Studies of the Atmosphere and Air-Sea-Ice Interactions

Katsaros

Brown

1991

Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Offiler [ 1982] showed the positive impact of SASS winds in the accurate location of marine frontal systems. Peteherych et al [ 1988] found that several meteorological features such as high-and low-pressure centers, shear zones, etc., were more accurately defined with the inclusion of scatterometer winds. However, the short life of Seasat (96 days) prevented the scatterometer from demonstrating its ability to provide a forcing for basin scale ocean models.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of satellite scatterometer winds to force an ocean general circulation model

Barnier¹,

Boukthir²,

Verron³

1991

J. Geophys. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present study is an attempt to evaluate the capacity of scatterometer wind data to be provided by the forthcoming European Remote Sensing 1 (ERS 1) and NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) satellite missions, to successfully force basin scale ocean circulations. The mid‐latitude ocean is simulated with a three‐layer, quasi‐geostrophic, eddy‐resolving model in a square box geometry. The variable wind stress, which is used to simulate scatterometer winds, is derived from European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) daily analyses of the wind stress over the North Atlantic. Its curl is applied as a forcing at every grid point of the model to drive a circulation of reference. The model is forced in real time under the swath with the curl derived from the raw scatterometer winds, with a condition of persistence that keeps the forcing constant between two consecutive passages of the satellite. The winds of ERS 1 (at 3‐ and 35‐day periods) produce circulations which globally resemble that of the reference experiment. A 3‐day repeat orbit appears to be the most suitable for producing raw winds capable of realistically driving a numerical ocean model. NSCAT (3‐day period) reproduces the main features of the reference large scale circulation with more success than ERS 1, and it is clear that NSCAT raw winds are far more suitable for driving an ocean Eddy‐Resolving General Circulation Model (EGCM) than ERS 1 winds because of their denser spatial coverage. ERS 1 and NSCAT raw wind stress curl fields are then objectively analyzed to produce smoothed “interpolated” wind stress curl fields having continuous values at every model grid point. Simulations with ERS 1 and NSCAT interpolated forcings show an improvement in the structure of the mean flow, but discrepancies in the energetics lead us to conclude that our interpolated winds are not significantly better than the raw winds. A «combined» forcing is constructed consisting of daily maps containing NSCAT raw data under the swaths and the corresponding objectively analyzed field outside the swaths. The circulation driven by the combined forcing reproduces remarkably well the main features and the energetics of the reference circulation. The patchy resolution of the combined forcing appeared to have little effect on the results of the simulations. Our conclusion is that, within the framework of the present study, scatterometer winds (and particularly those of NSCAT) seem appropriate for providing a forcing function to mid‐latitude ocean models, and for that purpose, these satellite data may not require prior assimilation in meteorological models, despite their patchiness and irregular resolution.

show abstract

References

2024

Data Analysis Methods in Physical Oceanography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Application of Seasat Scatterometer Wind Measurements for Operational Short-Range Weather Forecasting

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Legacy of the Seasat Mission for Studies of the Atmosphere and Air-Sea-Ice Interactions

Legacy of the Seasat Mission for Studies of the Atmosphere and Air-Sea-Ice Interactions

Use of satellite scatterometer winds to force an ocean general circulation model

References

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About