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Simulated Surface Energy Budgets Over the Southeastern US: The GHCC Satellite Assimilation System and the NCEP Early EtaA technique has been developed for assimilating GOES-derived skin temperature tendencies and insolation into the surface energy budget equation of a mesoscale model so that the simulated rate of temperature change closely agrees with the satellite observations. A critical assumption of the technique is that the availability of moisture (either from the soil or vegetation) is the least known term in the model's surface energy budget. Therefore, the simulated latent heat flux, which is a function of surface moisture availability, is adjusted based upon differences between the modeled and satellite-observed skin temperature tendencies. An advantage of this technique is that satellite temperature tendencies are assimilated in an energetically consistent manner that avoids energy imbalances and surface stability problems that arise from direct assimilation of surface shelter temperatures. The fact that the rate of change of the satellite skin temperature is used rather than the absolute temperature means that sensor calibration is not as critical. An advantage of this technique for short-range forecasts (0-48h) is that it does not require a complex land-surface formulation within the atmospheric model. As a result, we can avoid having to specify land surface characteristics such as vegetation resistances, green fraction, leaf area index, soil physical and hydraulic characteristics, stream flow, runoff, and the vertical and horizontal distribution of soil moisture.
Document ID
20000013349
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Lapenta, William M.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Suggs, Ron
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
McNider, Richard T.
(Alabama Univ. Huntsville, AL United States)
Jedlovec, Gary
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1999
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Meeting Information
Meeting: NASA LSHP PI Meeting
Location: Columbia, MD
Country: United States
Start Date: November 2, 1999
End Date: November 3, 1999
Sponsors: NASA Headquarters
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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