A quasi-Lagrangian diagnostic case study of the effect of satellite sounding data assimilation on model cyclone prediction

A quasi-Lagrangian diagnostic study was performed to compare weather forecast accuracy with and without use of satellite data. Attention was focused on the mass and angular momentum budgets of the cyclone. The diagnostic study isolated the effects of physical processes within a cyclone and the effects of transport processes moving with the cyclone. Satellite data furnished different initialization values for horizontal mass and eddy angular momentum. Colder temperatures and weaker stabilities in the NW quadrant lower layers in the budget volume and increased stability in the middle and lower layers of another quadrant were obtained when the satellite data were considered. The addition of satellite data was concluded to have enhanced the accuracy of the forecast.