An update on THORPEX-related research in data assimilation and observing strategies

• Main Authors: Rabier, F., Gauthier, P., Cardinali, C., Langland, R., Tsyrulnikov, M., Lorenc, A., Steinle, P., Gelaro, R., Koizumi, K.
• Other Authors: Centre national de recherches météorologiques (CNRM), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Département des sciences de la terre et de l'atmosphère Montréal (SCTA), Université du Québec à Montréal = University of Québec in Montréal (UQAM), European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Hydrometeorological Research Centre of Russia, United Kingdom Met Office Exeter, Australian Bureau of Meteorology Melbourne (BoM), Australian Government, Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2008
• Subjects: [PHYS.ASTR.CO]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Cosmology and Extra-Galactic Astrophysics [astro-ph.CO]; [SDU.ASTR]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]; [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences; Pacific; IPY
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00331110; https://hal.science/hal-00331110/document; https://hal.science/hal-00331110/file/npg-15-81-2008.pdf

International audience The international programme "THORPEX: a World Weather Research Programme" provides a framework in which to tackle the challenge of improving the forecast skill of high-impact weather through international collaboration between academic institutions, operational forecast centres, and users of forecast products. The objectives of the THORPEX Data Assimilation and Observation Strategy Working Group (DAOS-WG) are two-fold. The primary goal is to assess the impact of observations and various targeting methods to provide guidance for observation campaigns and for the configuration of the Global Observing System. The secondary goal is to setup an optimal framework for data assimilation, including aspects such as targeted observations, satellite data, background error covariances and quality control. The Atlantic THORPEX Regional campaign, ATReC, in 2003, has been very successful technically and has provided valuable datasets to test targeting issues. Various data impact experiments have been performed, showing a small but very slightly positive impact of targeted observations. Projects of the DAOS-WG include working on the AMMA field experiment, in the context of IPY and to prepare the future THORPEX-PARC field campaign in the Pacific by comparing sensitivity of the forecasts to observations between several groups.