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Assimilation of scatterometer winds into surface pressure fields using a variational methodA variational formulation was used to assimilate Seasat-A scatterometer (SASS) surface wind measurements near and during a severe storm in the North Atlantic into conventional National Meteorological Center sea level pressure fields. An estimate of the relative vorticity at every point on a grid was calculated using each of these two data sets. A solution to a modified geostrophic stream function is found subject to the constraints that (1) the relative vorticities calculated from the data agree as closely as possible with the relative vorticities from the variational solution, and that (2) the average kinetic energy is a minimum. Results are obtained which support the idea that averaged satellite data can be treated as synoptic data. Direct substitution rather than a time-weighted insertion made from SASS winds generally resulted in more accurate pressure analyses. In addition, this relatively simple model provides surface pressure fields which agree extremely well with surface truth and the results of other investigators who required additional sources of input data into more complex models. It will be possible to obtain improved wind field maps from future scatterometer pressure fields in mid-latitudes.
Document ID
19860061741
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Harlan, J., Jr.
(Florida State Univ. Tallahassee, FL, United States)
Obrien, J. J.
(Florida State University Tallahassee, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
June 20, 1986
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 91
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Report/Patent Number
AD-A173462
Accession Number
86A46479
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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