Project Title:
West Coast Storm Forecasting with SSMI
07.06-8911
West Coast Storm Forecasting with SSMI
Remote Sensing Systems
475 Gate Five Rd, Suite 211
Sausalito
CA
94965
Wentz
Frank J.
NAS5-29438
Amount:
GSFC
NAS5-28634
Abstract:
The first in a new generation of satellite microwave radiometers, theSSMI, will be launched in spring of 1986. Our SBIR project is a demonstration that
SSMI images of water vapor V, rain rate R, and wind speed W (VRW images) can improve
the forecasting of North Pacific storms coming into the West Coast of the United
States. The Phase I study established the feasibility of this project by determining
the accuracy and resolution of the SSMI products, the SSMI spatial coverage, and
the timeliness of the SSMI data. Also, VRW images of the severe storms that devastated
the California shoreline in 1982 and 1983 were produced using NIMBUS 7 SMMR data.
Phase II will be a demonstration of SSMI's forecasting capabilities. An image processing
system will be developed to overlay the SSMI VRW images onto NMC analyses and GOES
imagery. Advection forecasting of using SSMI products in techniques will be tested,
and the potential of using SSMI products in numerical forecast models will be investigated.
The Phase II project will end with a real-time demonstration in which actual forecasts
are
made using the SSMI data in conjunction with other meteorological information.
We expect that SSMI will have a significant impact on West Coast forecasting.