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Observing system simulation experiments exploring potential spaceborne deployment options for a differential absorption radar measuring marine surface pressures
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  • Nikki C. Prive,
  • Matthew Lane McLinden,
  • Bing Lin,
  • Gerald M. Heymsfield,
  • Xia Cai,
  • Steve Harrah
Nikki C. Prive
Morgan State University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Matthew Lane McLinden
NASA/GSFC
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Bing Lin
NASA Langley Research Center
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Gerald M. Heymsfield
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
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Xia Cai
SCIENCE SYSTEMS AND APPLICATIONS, INC
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Steve Harrah
NASA Langley Research Center
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Abstract

A new technology for remote measurements of marine surface pressure has been proposed, employing a V-band differential absorption radar and a radiometric temperature sounder to calculate the total column atmospheric mass. Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) are performed to evaluate the potential impact of Spaceborne Marine Surface Pressure (SMSP) on Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP). These experiments build on prior efforts (Privé et al 2023), but with an updated version of the OSSE framework and with more sophisticated simulation of the SMSP observations and a longer experiment period. Several different instrument configurations are compared, including both scanning and non-scanning orbits. SMSP impacts are calculated for analysis quality and forecast skill, and a forecast sensitivity observation impact tool is employed to place SMSP observations in context with the global observing network. The effects of rain contamination on observation quality are explored. Different magnitudes of simulated SMSP observation error are tested in the context of data assimilation to show the range of potential behaviors. Overall, SMSP observations are found to be most beneficial in the southern hemisphere extratropics, with statistically significant forecast improvements for the first 72 hours of the forecast. A constellation of four non-scanning SMSP satellites is found to outperform a single scanning instrument with a 250 km wide swath.