Assimilation of SMOS L-band Wind Speeds: Impact on Met Office Global NWP and Tropical Cyclone Predictions
International audience A new generation of L-band sensors, such as ESA's Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission, have the capability to provide information on the ocean-surface wind speed under high wind and rain conditions. In this study we evaluate the use of SMOS wind speeds within Met...
Published in: | Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society |
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Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-04202032 https://hal.science/hal-04202032/document https://hal.science/hal-04202032/file/53782.pdf https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3237 |
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ftinsu:oai:HAL:hal-04202032v1 2024-04-14T08:19:17+00:00 Assimilation of SMOS L-band Wind Speeds: Impact on Met Office Global NWP and Tropical Cyclone Predictions Cotton, J. Francis, P. Heming, J. Forsythe, M. Reul, Nicolas Donlon, C. Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) 2018-01 https://hal.science/hal-04202032 https://hal.science/hal-04202032/document https://hal.science/hal-04202032/file/53782.pdf https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3237 en eng HAL CCSD Wiley info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1002/qj.3237 hal-04202032 https://hal.science/hal-04202032 https://hal.science/hal-04202032/document https://hal.science/hal-04202032/file/53782.pdf doi:10.1002/qj.3237 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 0035-9009 EISSN: 1477-870X Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society https://hal.science/hal-04202032 Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 2018, 144 (711 Part.B), pp.614-629. ⟨10.1002/qj.3237⟩ [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2018 ftinsu https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3237 2024-03-21T17:04:55Z International audience A new generation of L-band sensors, such as ESA's Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission, have the capability to provide information on the ocean-surface wind speed under high wind and rain conditions. In this study we evaluate the use of SMOS wind speeds within Met Office numerical weather prediction (NWP). Observation minus model background (O-B) departure statistics are used to investigate SMOS error characteristics, quality flags, and develop a quality control method. Observation errors and spatial correlation distances are estimated using a statistical method. Observing system experiments are performed to diagnose the impact of SMOS on NWP forecasts and analyses, including tropical cyclone (TC) predictions.The quality of SMOS retrievals appears reduced in the presence of sea ice, strong river plumes, and radio-frequency interference (RFI) contamination. SMOS wind retrievals have reduced sensitivity at low-moderate winds speeds. Above 15 ms-1, SMOS winds tend to be faster than the model and have higher O-B variance compared to scatterometer winds from ASCAT. Above 30 m/s RMS errors from SMOS are smaller than ASCAT. The impact of SMOS on TC predictions is sensitive to the use of the Met Office TC Central Pressure Initialisation Scheme (TCCPIS) which is confirmed to have a large, beneficial impact on intensity predictions. The assimilation of SMOS results in a small increase in TC intensity leading to a reduction in pressure/wind errors in the analysis and short-range forecasts, but cannot replicate the impact from the TCCPIS. The spatial resolution of SMOS is a clear limitation for analysing TC structure. In the case of Hurricane Kilo, the analysed and short-range forecast central pressures are closer to best-track when the storm radius is large and the eye is resolved. The challenge is to extract the useful information on intensity whilst preserving storm structure. Article in Journal/Newspaper Sea ice Institut national des sciences de l'Univers: HAL-INSU Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 144 711 614 629 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Institut national des sciences de l'Univers: HAL-INSU |
op_collection_id |
ftinsu |
language |
English |
topic |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] |
spellingShingle |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] Cotton, J. Francis, P. Heming, J. Forsythe, M. Reul, Nicolas Donlon, C. Assimilation of SMOS L-band Wind Speeds: Impact on Met Office Global NWP and Tropical Cyclone Predictions |
topic_facet |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] |
description |
International audience A new generation of L-band sensors, such as ESA's Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission, have the capability to provide information on the ocean-surface wind speed under high wind and rain conditions. In this study we evaluate the use of SMOS wind speeds within Met Office numerical weather prediction (NWP). Observation minus model background (O-B) departure statistics are used to investigate SMOS error characteristics, quality flags, and develop a quality control method. Observation errors and spatial correlation distances are estimated using a statistical method. Observing system experiments are performed to diagnose the impact of SMOS on NWP forecasts and analyses, including tropical cyclone (TC) predictions.The quality of SMOS retrievals appears reduced in the presence of sea ice, strong river plumes, and radio-frequency interference (RFI) contamination. SMOS wind retrievals have reduced sensitivity at low-moderate winds speeds. Above 15 ms-1, SMOS winds tend to be faster than the model and have higher O-B variance compared to scatterometer winds from ASCAT. Above 30 m/s RMS errors from SMOS are smaller than ASCAT. The impact of SMOS on TC predictions is sensitive to the use of the Met Office TC Central Pressure Initialisation Scheme (TCCPIS) which is confirmed to have a large, beneficial impact on intensity predictions. The assimilation of SMOS results in a small increase in TC intensity leading to a reduction in pressure/wind errors in the analysis and short-range forecasts, but cannot replicate the impact from the TCCPIS. The spatial resolution of SMOS is a clear limitation for analysing TC structure. In the case of Hurricane Kilo, the analysed and short-range forecast central pressures are closer to best-track when the storm radius is large and the eye is resolved. The challenge is to extract the useful information on intensity whilst preserving storm structure. |
author2 |
Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cotton, J. Francis, P. Heming, J. Forsythe, M. Reul, Nicolas Donlon, C. |
author_facet |
Cotton, J. Francis, P. Heming, J. Forsythe, M. Reul, Nicolas Donlon, C. |
author_sort |
Cotton, J. |
title |
Assimilation of SMOS L-band Wind Speeds: Impact on Met Office Global NWP and Tropical Cyclone Predictions |
title_short |
Assimilation of SMOS L-band Wind Speeds: Impact on Met Office Global NWP and Tropical Cyclone Predictions |
title_full |
Assimilation of SMOS L-band Wind Speeds: Impact on Met Office Global NWP and Tropical Cyclone Predictions |
title_fullStr |
Assimilation of SMOS L-band Wind Speeds: Impact on Met Office Global NWP and Tropical Cyclone Predictions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assimilation of SMOS L-band Wind Speeds: Impact on Met Office Global NWP and Tropical Cyclone Predictions |
title_sort |
assimilation of smos l-band wind speeds: impact on met office global nwp and tropical cyclone predictions |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-04202032 https://hal.science/hal-04202032/document https://hal.science/hal-04202032/file/53782.pdf https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3237 |
genre |
Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Sea ice |
op_source |
ISSN: 0035-9009 EISSN: 1477-870X Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society https://hal.science/hal-04202032 Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 2018, 144 (711 Part.B), pp.614-629. ⟨10.1002/qj.3237⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1002/qj.3237 hal-04202032 https://hal.science/hal-04202032 https://hal.science/hal-04202032/document https://hal.science/hal-04202032/file/53782.pdf doi:10.1002/qj.3237 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3237 |
container_title |
Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society |
container_volume |
144 |
container_issue |
711 |
container_start_page |
614 |
op_container_end_page |
629 |
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1796318939379138560 |