Research on diabatic initialization

The objective of this research is to contribute to the improvement of the analyses of irrotational wind and moisture fields in the tropics through advancement in the technique of initialization, incorporating diabatic effects and use of satellite-derived, radiometric imagery data that are not used currently by operational centers. Significant accomplishments during the period of May 1991 - April 1992 in research involving the following are presented: impact of tropical initialization upon the spin-up of precipitation forecasts; and a unified approach to diabatic initialization for improvement in the analysis of divergence and water vapor fields in the tropics. Focus of current research and plans for next year are discussed with respect to the topics of controlling the precipitation over shoot during the early part of a numerical forecast and the use of satellite imagery data for improvement of the tropical analysis.