Supporting Meteorological Field Experiment Missions and Postmission Analysis with Satellite Digital Data and Products

Abstract

I n this paper we focus on a good recent example of how multiple satellite-based datasets and products played an important role in supporting a meteorological field experiment: the Tropical Cyclone Structure 2008 (TCS-08) project, part of the much larger The Observing System Research and Predictability Experiment (THORPEX) Pacific Regional Area Campaign (T-PARC) field program, was designed to study tropical cyclones (TCs) in the western North Pacific domain during August and September 2008. The field program (Fig. 1) involved international collaborators and leveraged a special suite of observing resources, including aircraft, ships, buoys, radiosondes, driftsondes, dropsondes, and more. TCS-08 was sponsored by the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) and focused on detailed atmospheric measurements of TC genesis, inner core structure, and extratropical transitions (ETs) to better understand intensity changes while also sampling the ocean response to TC passages. In T-PARC/TCS-08, a suite of geostationary (GEO) and low-earth-orbiting (LEO) sensors were employed to help guide daily mission planning, forecasts, and outlooks, and also to enhance postmission analysis studies. This paper chronicles the T-PARC/TCS-08 project s satellite-observing tools, imagery, and derived products that provided real-time guidance and postmission analysis information. We synthesize those that were critical to T-PARC/TCS-08 as an example of how satellite-based remote sensing can be optimized to provide dedicated field campaign support.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 2011
Accession Number
ADA550088

Entities

People

  • Christopher Velden
  • Jeffrey Hawkins

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Atmospheric Motion
  • Detectors
  • Digital Data
  • Geosynchronous Satellites
  • High Resolution
  • Information Systems
  • Jet Propulsion
  • Measurement
  • Meteorological Satellites
  • Meteorology
  • Remote Sensing
  • Satellite Imaging
  • Scattering
  • Spacecraft
  • Tropical Cyclones

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science/Meteorology
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.
  • Technical Research and Report Writing.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Satellites