Observing system simulation experiments exploring potential spaceborne
deployment options for a differential absorption radar measuring marine
surface pressures
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.