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Overview of global data assimilation developments in numerical weather‐prediction centres
Author(s) -
Rabier Florence
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1256/qj.05.129
Subject(s) - data assimilation , numerical weather prediction , global forecast system , meteorology , computer science , weather prediction , satellite , weather forecasting , northern hemisphere , assimilation (phonology) , climatology , environmental science , geography , engineering , geology , linguistics , philosophy , aerospace engineering
Recent data assimilation developments which have taken place at numerical weather‐prediction centres are briefly discussed, from the perspectives of both the importance of data and algorithmic developments. The increase in quality and quantity of satellite data is seen to play a major role in the improvement of forecast performance, particularly in the southern hemisphere. Further optimization of the use of observations is possible through the proper evaluation of data impact and the optimization of the amount of data to be assimilated. The generalized advent of four‐dimensional variational assimilation is presented, and trends in the specification of error statistics are described. Finally, a more interactive forecasting system including an adaptive component is a new challenge to bring additional improvement to the forecasting of high‐impact weather. Copyright © 2005 Royal Meteorological Society