The Potential Impact of Assimilating Satellite-Derived Atmospheric Motion Vectors in Numerical Weather Prediction Modeling for Nowcasting
Abstract
In regions across the globe that do not have readily available conventional weather observation equipment, nontraditional sources such as satellite-derived atmospheric motion vectors (AMVs; which can estimate tropospheric winds) have become of increasing interest. This report provides a short overview of some current literature related to atmospheric motion vectors and their use in numerical weather prediction, along with results from a short study that looks at their potential to influence short-range (up to 3 h) wind forecasts (or nowcasts) using the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratorys Weather Running EstimateNowcast Realtime System, based upon the Advanced Research version of the Weather Research and Forecast model. These observations could prove important to a field artillery Army system like the Profiler Virtual Module, where rapidly updated mesoscale numerical weather prediction model wind forecasts through the troposphere (and even into the stratosphere) provide critical meteorological information for artillery trajectory calculations. Such a system can be deployed anywhere globally. This report explores evidence that AMVs might offer an important alternate source of upper-air wind observations in otherwise data-denied regions of the globe, offering the potential to enhance the accuracy of short-range nowcast predictions in such regions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1111517
Entities
People
- Robert E. Jr Dumais
Organizations
- United States Army Combat Capabilities Development Command