Upper Air
TEMP/PILOT
PROFLR
VADWIND
Aircraft
PIREP
AIREP
ACARS
Surface
TEMP/PILOT
SYNOP/METAR
MARINE
BOGUS
Space based
SATOBS
SSMI/ERS
SBUV
These data report information using conventional meteorological units (p,q,t,u,v)either directly or indirectly observed and converted.
Traditionally these data are transmitted from the field over the GTS for access by operational NWP centers for the purpose of making real time weather forecasts.
Many overlapping archives of these data now exist internationally. It is necessary to collate many sources and standardize the datasets in order to create a compatible dataset for retrospective reanalysis.
RAOB/PIBAL Reprocessed ON29/NCAR + MARS/ECMWFAIRCFT MARS/ECMWFSATOB JMA Reprocessed GMS/NCARMARINE Reprocessed COADS/NCARMARINE ESA Reprocessed ERS-1, ERS-2MARINE SSMI Sensor Data Records/NCDCSYNOP Reprocessed ON124/NCARSH BOGUS Reprocessed PAOBS/NCAR/JRA25/ERA40OZONE Version 8 SBUV retrievals
TOVS
HIRS2-MSU-SSU
ATOVS
HIRS3-AMSU-A-B
JPL/AQUA
AIRS
AMSUA
AMSRE
GOES
SNDR/IMGR
CHAMP/COSMIC
GPS RADIO OCCULTATION
ESA/METOP
IASI-HIRS4
AMSU-MHS
GOME-ASCAT
These data report information in unconventional units such as IR/MW waveband brightness (radiance) or refractive bending angle from radio occultation.
The data are managed in real time by organizations such as NESDIS, NASA, and ESA/EUMETSAT for access by operational NWP centers. Some important datasets have been reprocessed from the archives for reanalysis, i.e. MSU and GPSRO, and more are in progress. The volume of this data is many orders of magnitude greater than the conventional observations.
1980 1990 2000 2010
ssu_tirosnssu_n06ssu_n07ssu_n08ssu_n09ssu_n11ssu_n14
amsua_aquaamsua_metop-a
amsua_n15amsua_n16amsua_n18amsub_n15amsub_n16amsub_n17msu_tirosn
msu_n06msu_n07msu_n08msu_n09msu_n10msu_n11msu_n12msu_n14
hirs2_tirosnhirs2_n06hirs2_n07hirs2_n08hirs2_n09hirs2_n10hirs2_n11hirs2_n12hirs2_n14hirs3_n15hirs3_n16hirs3_n17
hirs4_metop-aairs_aqua
mhs_metop-amhs_n18
sndrD1_g11sndrD1_g12sndrD2_g11sndrD2_g12sndrD3_g11sndrD3_g12sndrD4_g11sndrD4_g12
sndr_g08sndr_g09sndr_g10sndr_g11sndr_g12
1980 1990 2000 2010
TEMP/PILOT
SYNOP
AIRCRAFT
MARINE
SATOB
PAOB
OSBUV8
HIRS
MSU
SSU
SSMIWND
VADWND
PROFILR
METARACARS
QKSWND
MSONET
HIRS3
AMSUA
AMSUB
Rep ESA/ERS
AIRS
GOESND1X1
AMSRE
HIRS4
MHS
WNDSATRep JMA/GMS
MTIASI
GOESND
RMS all ob-fg
RMS acc ob-fg
RMS acc ob-anl
Mean values Tot count
Acc count
Monthly values
00z OB counts
Not assimilated but fairly good fit to the
first guess
Some seasonal bias
Begins with new
decoders in 1997
Noisy first couple years of
reprocessed data
Otherwise fairly consistent with large
impact in analysis
ERS-1 ERS-2ERS-2 off line
NCDC archive available from Aug 1993 when we obtained the data
SSM/I data now available in
NOAA/CLASS back to July 1991
Data starts in 1987
New GSI VAR QC does a good job controlling
noise in the assimilation
Conventional data counts vary quite a bit over the 30 years, both by season and decade
Could look at assimilating SYNOP and METAR temp and wind
data, next time
Specially re-processed datasets GMS, ERS,
PAOB, ON29, ON124 perform well
The performance charts highlight a number of
cases which need looking into
The quality of the first guess steadily improves in time as measured by
fits to data
It would be useful to apply VAR QC to
observations being monitored but not
assimilated
With some exceptions the quality of the input datasets is very high, as
measured by QC rejection rates
For CFSR data access at NCDC:
http://nomads.ncdc.noaa.gov/NOAAReanalysis/cfsrr