WEST COAST STORM FORECASTING WITH SATELLITE DATA

A NEW GENERATION OF SATELLITE MICROWARE RADIOMETERS, THE SSMI, MAY HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THE FORECASTING OF NORTH PACIFIC STORMS COMING INTO THE WEST COAST. THIS PROJECT IS A DEMONSTRATION THAT SSMI-DERIVED IMAGES OF WIND SPEED, WATER VAPOR, AND RAIN RATES CAN ASSIST THE FORECASTER IN CHARACTERIZING AND PREDICTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF MID-LATITUDE CYCLONES. IN PREPARATION FOR THE 1986 SSMI, WIND/VAPOR/RAIN (WVR) IMAGES OF PAST STORMS WILL BE PRODUCED FROM THE RADIANCE MEASUREMENTS OF THE SEASAT AND NIMBUS-7 MICROWAVE RADIOMETERS. THESE IMAGES WILL BE GENERATED BY MEANS OF A NON-LINEAR ALGORITHM THAT DIRECTLY RELATES MICROWAVE RADIANCES TO WIND, VAPOR, AND RAIN. NEW FORECASTING TECHNIQUES WILL BE DEVELOPED THAT USE THE WVR IMAGES IN CONJUNCTION WITH OTHER METEOROLOGICAL DATA SETS. THE FINAL OBJECTIVE IS TO TEST THE WVR IMAGE FORECASTING TECHNIQUES IN A REAL-TIME ENVIRONMENT AND COMPARE THE RESULTS WITH THE OFFICIAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECASTS.