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DOE OSTI2022

Object-Based Evaluation of Tropical Precipitation Systems in DYAMOND Simulations over the Maritime Continent

The present study uses an object-based evaluation metric to examine the precipitation bias over the Maritime Continent in the global cloud-resolving models. We specifically focus on the difference between the models that directly resolve convection and those using convection parameterization. The 40-day hindcast experiments of the DYnamics of the Atmospheric general circulation Modeled On Non-hydrostatic Domain (DYAMOND) intercomparison project are evaluated against the high-resolution satellite rainfall products. The hindcast of the Central Weather Bureau Global Forecast System (CWBGFS) under the DYAMOND protocol is also included. The results indicate that most models simulate insufficient numbers of large precipitation system [object-based precipitation system (OPS), > 370 km in scale], indicating weaker convection organization. The observation indicates that the maximum precipitation within the OPS intensifies with increasing object size. All of the models capture this positive relationship, but most of them overestimate the sensitivity. Most of the models overestimate both the frequency and intensity of small OPS (< 160 km), except for the models with convection parameterization [i.e., CWBGFS, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Integrated Forecasting System (IFS)-9 km]. Although most of the models can reproduce the observed peak time of diurnal precipitation over the land area in the Maritime Continent, the simulated fractional contribution of different sizes of OPS to the total precipitation varies from model to model, and their peak times do not follow the observed ones with delayed peak times as the size of OPS increases from small, mid-size, to large categories. Most of the models reasonably capture the mean diurnal cycle peak time, but only the models with convection parameterization and Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS) can represent the diurnal evolution of fractional contribution from different OPSs. The implications of the current results to the upscale processes of the tropical convection systems in the global models are also discussed.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2022

Convective Updraft and Downdraft Characteristics of Continental Mesoscale Convective Systems in the Model Gray Zone

Here, the "gray zone" of convective modeling is defined as the range of horizontal grid spacings (Δx) at which turbulent transport processes are only partially resolved by the dynamics of the numerical model. This zone typically covers Δx from a few kilometers to several hundred meters, wherein the realistic representation of convective cloud processes can be challenging. This study characterizes the convective draft behaviors at multiple Δx across the gray zone and determines the appropriate Δx that can reliably capture these salient convective properties. We perform an ensemble of idealized simulations of mesoscale convective systems (MCS) using the Weather Research and Forecasting model at various Δx from 4 km to 250 m over the central U.S. An evaluation of key MCS kinematic properties is constrained using unique, long-term vertical velocity estimates obtained by radar wind profilers deployed by the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement user facility. MCS simulations for all Δx tested overestimate (underestimate) the probabilities of convective updrafts (downdrafts) compared to the observations. In terms of the convective draft intensity, finer-Δx models overestimate the updraft intensity, while the opposite is found for downdrafts. Moving from Δx = 4 km to 250 m, downdrafts become stronger and more frequent especially at middle and upper levels, attributed to additional drag from an increasing graupel frequency and compensation of enhanced updraft velocity. Simulated draft characteristics, including core size, intensity, and probability of occurrence, exhibit pronounced changes at Δx greater than 500 m, but suggest less sensitivity when Δx is reduced below 500 m.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS1980

Predicting tropical cyclone intensity using satellite-measured equivalent blackbody temperatures of cloud tops

A relationship between maximum winds and satellite-measured equivalent blackbody temperatures near tropical cyclones is investigated with data from both the Atlantic and western North Pacific areas. This investigation revealed not only a significant correlation between satellite-derived equivalent blackbody temperatures and maximum winds but also a strong lag relationship between these temperatures and maximum winds. From this latter relationship a regression technique was developed to forecast 24-h changes of the maximum winds for weak (maximum winds less than or equal to 65 kt) and strong (maximum winds greater than 65 kt) tropical cyclones by utilizing the equivalent blackbody temperatures around the storm alone, together with changes in maximum winds during the preceding 24 h and the current maximum winds. Testing of these equations with independent data showed that the mean errors of forecasts made by the equations are lower than the errors in forecasts made by persistence techniques.

Gentry, R. C.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Collaboration Portals for NASA's Airborne Field Campaigns

The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), in collaboration with the Global Hydrology Resource Center, a NASA Earth Science Data Center, has provided information management for a number of NASA Airborne Field campaigns, both hurricane science investigations and satellite instrument validation. Effective field campaign management requires communication and coordination tools, including utilities for personnel to upload and share flight plans, weather forecasts, a variety of mission reports, preliminary science data, and personal photos. Beginning with the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) hurricane field campaign in 2010, we have provided these capabilities via a Drupal-based collaboration portal. This portal was reused and modified for the Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E), part of the Global Precipitation Measurement mission ground validation program. An end goal of these development efforts is the creation of a Drupal profile for field campaign management. This presentation will discuss experiences with Drupal in developing and using these collaboration portals. Topics will include Drupal modules used, advantages and disadvantages of working with Drupal in this context, and how the science teams used the portals in comparison with other communication and collaboration tools.

Conover, Helen↗

NASA NTRS2017

Modeling Solar Energetic Particle Events Using ENLIL Heliosphere Simulations

Solar energetic particle (SEP) event modeling (SEPMOD) has gained renewed attention in part because of the availability of a decade of multipoint measurements from STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) and L1 (Lagrangian point 1) spacecraft at 1 AU (Astronomical Unit). These observations are coupled with improving simulations of the geometry and strength of heliospheric shocks obtained by using coronagraph images to send erupted material into realistic solar wind backgrounds. The STEREO and ACE (Aerosol, Cloud systems, ocean Ecosystems) measurements in particular have highlighted the sometimes surprisingly widespread nature of SEP events. It is thus an opportune time for testing SEP models, which typically focus on protons approximately 1-100 megaelectronvolts, toward both physical insight to these observations and potentially useful space radiation environment forecasting tools. Some approaches emphasize the concept of particle acceleration and propagation from close to the Sun, while others emphasize the local field line connection to a traveling, evolving shock source. Among the latter is the previously introduced SEPMOD treatment, based on the widely accessible and well-exercised WSA-ENLIL (Wang-Sheeley-Arge-ENLIL)-cone model. SEPMOD produces SEP proton time profiles at any location within the ENLIL domain. Here we demonstrate a SEPMOD version that accommodates multiple, concurrent shock sources occurring over periods of several weeks. The results illustrate the importance of considering longer-duration time periods and multiple CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) contributions in analyzing, modeling, and forecasting SEP events.

Luhmann, J. G.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Scientific goals of the Cooperative Multiscale Experiment (CME)

Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCS) form the focus of CME. Recent developments in global climate models, the urgent need to improve the representation of the physics of convection, radiation, the boundary layer, and orography, and the surge of interest in coupling hydrologic, chemistry, and atmospheric models of various scales, have emphasized the need for a broad interdisciplinary and multi-scale approach to understanding and predicting MCS's and their interactions with processes at other scales. The role of mesoscale systems in the large-scale atmospheric circulation, the representation of organized convection and other mesoscale flux sources in terms of bulk properties, and the mutually consistent treatment of water vapor, clouds, radiation, and precipitation, are all key scientific issues concerning which CME will seek to increase understanding. The manner in which convective, mesoscale, and larger scale processes interact to produce and organize MCS's, the moisture cycling properties of MCS's, and the use of coupled cloud/mesoscale models to better understand these processes, are also major objectives of CME. Particular emphasis will be placed on the multi-scale role of MCS's in the hydrological cycle and in the production and transport of chemical trace constituents. The scientific goals of the CME consist of the following: understand how the large and small scales of motion influence the location, structure, intensity, and life cycles of MCS's; understand processes and conditions that determine the relative roles of balanced (slow manifold) and unbalanced (fast manifold) circulations in the dynamics of MCS's throughout their life cycles; assess the predictability of MCS's and improve the quantitative forecasting of precipitation and severe weather events; quantify the upscale feedback of MCS's to the large-scale environment and determine interrelationships between MCS occurrence and variations in the large-scale flow and surface forcing; provide a data base for initialization and verification of coupled regional, mesoscale/hydrologic, mesoscale/chemistry, and prototype mesoscale/cloud-resolving models for prediction of severe weather, ceilings, and visibility; provide a data base for initialization and validation of cloud-resolving models, and for assisting in the fabrication, calibration, and testing of cloud and MCS parameterization schemes; and provide a data base for validation of four dimensional data assimilation schemes and algorithms for retrieving cloud and state parameters from remote sensing instrumentation.

Cotton, William↗

NASA NTRS1986

Forecasting sea breeze thunderstorms at the Kennedy Space Center using the Prognostic Three-Dimensional Mesoscale Model (P 3DM)

A Prognostic Three-Dimensional Model (P3DM) to produce 1- to 12-hr predictions of sea breeze convective (SBC) storms at KSC is described. The P3DM was developed to account for a scale of about 10 km, interactions between surface heat and moisture fluxes, boundary layer convergence, the movement of moisture into cloud formation zones, and alterations in the convective potential in the lower levels of the atmosphere during the diurnal cycle. Initialized with wind, temperature, specific humidity and local water temperature data, the model allows for the distortion of the boundary layer moisture and thermal fields by sea breeze conditions. The results of three simulations of events leading to the onset of SBC storms are presented to demonstrate the model's capabilities, and techniques which may enhance the accuracy of the predictions are discussed.

Lyons, Walter A.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Understanding and Utilizing PBL Height Data from Multiple Observing Systems in the GEOS System

The accuracy of PBL height simulation is a key issue in many applications including forecasting near surface meteorology and air quality, however, it is a very challenging problem due to the lack of not only comprehensive, global Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) observations but also a strategy and infrastructure to utilize PBL height data from a variety of sensors. Following the designation of PBL as an incubation class observable in the 2017 Decadal Survey, the PBL Incubation Study Team Report [14] made clear that “a future global PBL observing system requires modeling and data assimilation as essential components.” There is an urgent need for global modeling development in order to utilize Program of Record (POR) observations, assess their impacts, and identify gaps to be filled by future PBL missions. Our overall objective is to develop PBL data assimilation capabilities in the NASA Global Earth Observing System (GEOS), focusing on PBL height from multiple observing systems, to support the assessment and use of future PBL observations. The NASA GEOS system is composed of the GEOS global atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) and the atmospheric data assimilation system (ADAS). The PBL parameterizations include the “Lock” K-profile scheme driven by surface and cloud-top buoyancy fluxes ([4]), and the “Louis” local scheme for stable conditions based on the Richardson number ([5]). Above the mixed layer defined by the Lock surface plume, shallow cumulus convection is represented by the mass flux scheme of [9]. Additional parameterizations are summarized in [1]. The ADAS employs the hybrid 4D Ensemble- Variational (EnVar) configuration ([15]), with the ensemble providing flow-dependent background error covariance information. The resultant analysis increments are fed back to the forecast model through the 4D incremental analysis update (IAU) approach ([11]). In this study, PBL height data are being or have been generated from radiosondes, GNSS RO, satellite (CATS, CALIPSO and ICESat-2) and ground-based (MPLNET) lidars, and wind profiler. Investigations have been conducted to specify quality marks for PBL height retrievals for the data assimilation purpose. These PBL height data have different strengths and weaknesses ([2], [3], [6], [7], [8], [10]), and the satellite PBL height data provide better global coverage and complement in-situ PBL height data. Radiosondes offer high accuracy and in situ measurement of temperature and humidity profiles, but with poor spatio-temporal sampling. The in-situ observing systems like MPLNET and wind profiler provide long history of PBL height records at each station. The GNSS RO based PBL height is retrieved based on the sharp gradients in refractivity profile that represent the fine vertical structure of temperature and moisture changes above the PBL. However, not all RO refractivity profiles reach the surface depending on location and regime, and RO refractivity retrievals can be negatively biased below 2km. The PBL height data from satellite lidars provide high resolution along track PBL height retrievals, but over land they are affected by previous day convective PBL aerosol and strongly associated with mixing layer and retrievals cannot be made below thick, attenuating clouds. A successful assimilation of PBL height data requires a thorough understanding of the observing method and the retrieval algorithm for each observing system in order to use the PBL height data from multiple observing systems properly. Due to the sensitivity of PBL height data to the observing method and choice of algorithm, it is important to use a model definition appropriate for each observation type to compute differences between PBL height data and model PBL height (OmFs). The GEOS model currently includes two PBL height definitions suitable for direct comparison with observed PBL height, and additional definitions are being added in this study. Evaluation of different model PBL height definitions is underway. Meanwhile, efforts have been made in the GEOS data assimilation system to develop PBL height data assimilation capability. PBL height data can be assimilated using two different approaches. The traditional approach is to construct an observation operator and its tangent linear and adjoint, which link control variables to PBL height data from each observing system. This observation operator can be very complicated, e.g., the lidar-based PBL height observation operator includes the backscatter lidar forward observation operator, the algorithm to derive PBL height from attenuated total backscatter, interpolation, and calculations handling the mismatch between observed and model scales. The other approach is to augment PBL height to the control variable vector, and it is adopted in this study. The latter approach was also used in previous studies, e.g., the assimilation of PBL height data from radiosonde and aircraft in the Real Time Mesoscale Analysis (RTMA) system for a dispersion modelling study ([13]); the PBL height assimilation study using lidar PBL height data at Greensburg, Kansas for a field campaign ([12]). The PBL height assimilation from multiple observing systems in this study allows us to take advantage of the diverse PBL height data that provide much better global coverage collectively under different meteorological conditions and with different temporal and spatial scales. As all the PBL heights are tightly coupled with the PBL thermodynamic variables, the strong correlations, which are provided by the 4D ensemble forecast, enable PBL height data from various sources to interact and combine coherently and provide additional information for PBL temperature and moisture fields. The results of comparisons among PBL height data from different sources and the evaluation of the model PBL height definitions with the PBL height data will be presented, and the PBL height data synergy strategies and preliminary results will also be discussed at the conference.

Y. Zhu↗

NASA NTRS1992

Radar sensitivity and antenna scan pattern study for a satellite-based Radar Wind Sounder (RAWS)

Modeling global atmospheric circulations and forecasting the weather would improve greatly if worldwide information on winds aloft were available. Recognition of this led to the inclusion of the LAser Wind Sounder (LAWS) system to measure Doppler shifts from aerosols in the planned for Earth Observation System (EOS). However, gaps will exist in LAWS coverage where heavy clouds are present. The RAdar Wind Sensor (RAWS) is an instrument that could fill these gaps by measuring Doppler shifts from clouds and rain. Previous studies conducted at the University of Kansas show RAWS as a feasible instrument. This thesis pertains to the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) sensitivity, transmit waveform, and limitations to the antenna scan pattern of the RAWS system. A dop-size distribution model is selected and applied to the radar range equation for the sensitivity analysis. Six frequencies are used in computing the SNR for several cloud types to determine the optimal transmit frequency. the results show the use of two frequencies, one higher (94 GHz) to obtain sensitivity for thinner cloud, and a lower frequency (24 GHz) to obtain sensitivity for thinner cloud, and a lower frequency (24 GHz) for better penetration in rain, provide ample SNR. The waveform design supports covariance estimation processing. This estimator eliminates the Doppler ambiguities compounded by the selection of such high transmit frequencies, while providing an estimate of the mean frequency. the unambiguous range and velocity computation shows them to be within acceptable limits. The design goal for the RAWS system is to limit the wind-speed error to less than 1 ms(exp -1). Due to linear dependence between vectors for a three-vector scan pattern, a reasonable wind-speed error is unattainable. Only the two-vector scan pattern falls within the wind-error limits for azimuth angles between 16 deg to 70 deg. However, this scan only allows two components of the wind to be determined. As a result, a technique is then shown, based on the Z-R-V relationships, that permit the vertical component (i.e., rain) to be computed. Thus the horizontal wind components may be obtained form the covariance estimator and the vertical component from the reflectivity factor. Finally, a new candidate system is introduced which summarizes the parameters taken from previous RAWS studies, or those modified in this thesis.

Stuart, Michael A.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Improved Atmospheric Soundings and Error Estimates from Analysis of AIRS/AMSU Data

The AIRS Science Team Version 5.0 retrieval algorithm became operational at the Goddard DAAC in July 2007 generating near real-time products from analysis of AIRS/AMSU sounding data. This algorithm contains many significant theoretical advances over the AIRS Science Team Version 4.0 retrieval algorithm used previously. Three very significant developments of Version 5 are: 1) the development and implementation of an improved Radiative Transfer Algorithm (RTA) which allows for accurate treatment of non-Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (non-LTE) effects on shortwave sounding channels; 2) the development of methodology to obtain very accurate case by case product error estimates which are in turn used for quality control; and 3) development of an accurate AIRS only cloud clearing and retrieval system. These theoretical improvements taken together enabled a new methodology to be developed which further improves soundings in partially cloudy conditions, without the need for microwave observations in the cloud clearing step as has been done previously. In this methodology, longwave C02 channel observations in the spectral region 700 cm-' to 750 cm-' are used exclusively for cloud clearing purposes, while shortwave C02 channels in the spectral region 2195 cm-' to 2395 cm-' are used for temperature sounding purposes. The new methodology for improved error estimates and their use in quality control is described briefly and results are shown indicative of their accuracy. Results are also shown of forecast impact experiments assimilating AIRS Version 5.0 retrieval products in the Goddard GEOS 5 Data Assimilation System using different quality control thresholds.

Susskind, Joel↗

NASA NTRS1989

A proposed microburst nowcasting procedure using single-Doppler radar

Thirty-one microburst-producing storms from northweast Colorado were studied using single and multiple Doppler radar for the purpose of identifying radar signatures that indicated the development of a downdraft capable of producing a microburst. Descending reflectivity cores, increasing radial convergence within cloud, rotation, and reflectivity notches, were found to be microburst precursors, appearing typically 2-6 min prior to initial surface outflow. Three conceptual models have been drawn, based on the 31 events, to summarize the radar signatures of importance in low, moderate, and high-reflectivity microburst-producing storms. A forecaster-computer environment is proposed to allow the forecaster to readily view radar reflectivity and Doppler velocity information in both unprocessed and analyzed form. Use of multiimage radar displays and time-height profiles of quantitative radar estimates of reflectivity and radial shear are suggested to provide an environment where rapid progress can be made in developing techniques to nowcast microbursts.

Roberts, Rita D.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Observed effects of landscape variability on convective clouds

A case is presented in which clouds are observed to form first over a mesoscale-size area (100 x 300 km) of harvested wheat in Oklahoma, where the ground temperature is warmer than adjoining areas dominated by growing vegetation. In addition, clouds are suppressed over relatively long bands downwind of small man-made lakes and areas characterized by heavy tree cover. The observed variability of cloud relative to landscape type is compared with that simulated with a one-dimensional boundary-layer model. Clouds form earliest over regions characterized by high, sensible heat flux, and are suppressed over regions characterized by high, latent heat flux during relatively dry atmospheric conditions. This observation has significance in gaining understanding of the feedback mechanisms of land modification on climate, as well as understanding relatively short-range weather forecasting.

Rabin, Robert M.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Additional Metadata Guidelines to Improve the Structure and Usability of HDF and NetCDF Files

The Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) and Network Common Data Form (NetCDF) are data file formats created to aid users in the creation or use of scientific data. These file formats are useful for handling large data volumes and hosting extensive metadata as global attributes or variables and are popular with the modeling community. HDF and NetCDF files are largely used with remote sensing data and have been used to support measurements from numerous campaigns, from satellite to aircraft or ground and mobile based measurements. The files from airborne field studies, however, vary greatly in terms of the file structure and the amount and content of metadata. Information relevant to the file that can be useful to the user such as the data producer, location where data was taken, variable descriptions, or information about the instrument might not be included in the file. This metadata might be present in another file in the dataset containing the same data using the International Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport and Transformation (ICARTT) format. Recently, the Aerosols, Clouds, and their Interactions for Earth System Models (MACIE) group started a grassroots effort to develop a set of requirements for the HDF and NetCDF files for field studies, aiming to make the data products more interoperable and usable. Particularly, these requirements seek to make the files more compliant to Climate and Forecast (CF) metadata conventions and to standardize the file structure and the global and variable attributes. These requirements would help to ensure that HDF and NetCDF files contain adequate metadata to better support their use for research, e.g., the modeling community, and to enhance the usability and interoperability of data for research communities at large. To be presented are the details of the MACIE requirements as well as examples of the implementation of these requirements for merge files and lidar observation data files.

Sean Leavor↗

NASA NTRS2010

Effects of Lightning and Other Meteorological Factors on Fire Activity in the North American Boreal Forest: Implications for Fire Weather Forecasting

The effects of lightning and other meteorological factors on wildfire activity in the North American boreal forest are statistically analyzed during the fire seasons of 2000-2006 through an integration of the following data sets: the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) level 2 fire products, the 3-hourly 32-kin gridded meteorological data from North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR), and the lightning data collected by the Canadian Lightning Detection Network (CLDN) and the Alaska Lightning Detection Network (ALDN). Positive anomalies of the 500 hPa geopotential height field, convective available potential energy (CAPE), number of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, and the number of consecutive dry days are found to be statistically important to the seasonal variation of MODIS fire counts in a large portion of Canada and the entirety of Alaska. Analysis of fire occurrence patterns in the eastern and western boreal forest regions shows that dry (in the absence of precipitation) lightning strikes account for only 20% of the total lightning strikes, but are associated with (and likely cause) 40% of the MODIS observed fire counts in these regions. The chance for ignition increases when a threshold of at least 10 dry strikes per NARR grid box and at least 10 consecutive dry days is reached. Due to the orientation of the large-scale pattern, complex differences in fire and lightning occurrence and variability were also found between the eastern and western sub-regions. Locations with a high percentage of dry strikes commonly experience an increased number of fire counts, but the mean number of fire counts per dry strike is more than 50% higher in western boreal forest sub-region, suggesting a geographic and possible topographic influence. While wet lightning events are found to occur with a large range of CAPE values, a high probability for dry lightning occurs only when 500 hPa geopotential heights are above 5700m and CAPE values are near the maximum observed level, underscoring the importance of low-level instability to boreal fire weather forecasts-

Peterson, D.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Investigation of the Sensitivity of Tropical Cyclogenesis to Aerosol Intervention

Abstract As risks from tropical cyclones (TCs) are fueled by climate change escalation, there is an urgent need for transformational solutions to complement traditional approaches. Seeding TCs using aerosols can be a promising method to reduce cyclone intensity, supported by theoretical understanding of the microphysical effects of aerosols on TC clouds. The ideal time to intervene effectively in TCs is likely during their initial stage, before TC wind speeds reach their peak. However, studies exploring potential aerosol effects on TC formation remain scarce. This study investigates how a TC embryo responds to the addition of aerosols of varying sizes using the Weather Research & Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with a spectral‐bin microphysics model. We found that aerosols of different sizes and concentrations distinctively affect the pre‐TC vortex's microstructure and dynamics. Fine and ultrafine aerosols enhance the latent heat of condensation, freezing, deposition, and riming, initially intensifying the vortex. However, this results in enhancement of the cold pool, thereby reducing inflow and surface fluxes, subsequently weakening the vortex. Coarse aerosols produce the opposite effect to that of fine and ultrafine aerosols. Coarse aerosols lead to a slower initial acceleration owing to enhanced warm rain. However, the resulting weaker cold pool is insufficient to effectively reduce the strength of the vortex at the later stage. This study provides critical insights into how aerosols of varying sizes and concentrations modulate the energy cascade and impact the evolution of a TC embryo, laying the groundwork for further research on TC risk management through aerosol intervention.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS1982

Aircraft measurements and analysis of severe storms: 1976 field experiment

Severe storm aircraft measurements are documented, as well as the instrumentation and operational features of aircraft mobility capabilities. The measurements and data analyses indicate that the concept of a highly mobile research aircraft capability for obtaining detailed measurements of wind, temperature, moisture, spherics, etc., near and within severe storm systems, forecast 48 hours in advance in a 1000 nm operating radius, is feasible, and was successfully demonstrated. The measurements and analyses reveal several severe storm features and insights with respect to storm air flow circulations and inflow-outflow orientation. Precipitation downdraft air is recirculated back into the updraft core below the scud cloud in both back and front feeder type storms. In a back feeder type storm, the downdraft outflow air ahead of the storm is also recirculated back into the updraft region near cloud base.

Sinclair, P. C.↗

NASA NTRS2020

AMPR CAMP2Ex Calibrated and Quality-Controlled Dataset Level 2B, Revision B

Data were acquired by the Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (AMPR) during the Cloud, Aerosol and Monsoon Processes Philippines Experiment (CAMP2Ex) field campaign in August-October of 2019. These files include the Level 2B calibrated, corrected, and geo-referenced brightness temperature for the four AMPR-observed frequencies (10, 19, 37, 85 GHz). These data are archived in a self-describing, Climate and Forecasting (CF) 1.6-compliant Version 4 Network Common Data Format (netCDF4) format.Python software has been developed for reading, plotting, and providing some additional analysis capabilities. This software is available from: https://github.com/nasa/pyampr.The AMPR instrument is explained in more detail here: https://weather.msfc.nasa.gov/ampr/.These data have been determined to be viable for publishable scientific research, and alsoshould be useful for generating quicklooks or understanding what happened during a flight. Note: AMPRis not expected to provide useful data during significant aircraft maneuvers

Timothy Lang↗

NASA NTRS2003

Sea surface temperature measurements with AIRS

The comparison of global sea surface skin temperature derived from cloud-free AIRS super window channel at 2616 cm-1 (sst2616) with the Real-Time Global Sea Surface Temperature for September 2002 shows surprisingly small standard deviation of 0.44K.

temperature sounding weather forecasting climate↗