An Evaluation of Observations from Satellites for the Study and Prediction of Mesoscale Events and Cyclone Events

Quantitative observational guidelines have been developed for the study and forecasting of mesoscale events and cyclone events; many of these guidelines have resulted from major meteorological field programs. Increasingly sophisticated satellite-borne instruments in low and geosynchronous orbits hav...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 1987-01, Vol.68 (1), p.21-35
Main Authors: Shenk, William E., Vonder Haar, Thomas H., Smith, William L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Artificial satellites
Clouds
Cyclones
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Geosynchronous satellites
Meteorology
Meteorology And Climatology
Microwaves
Precipitation
Spatial resolution
Storms
Thunderstorms
Visual acuity
Weather analysis and prediction
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Summary:Quantitative observational guidelines have been developed for the study and forecasting of mesoscale events and cyclone events; many of these guidelines have resulted from major meteorological field programs. Increasingly sophisticated satellite-borne instruments in low and geosynchronous orbits have provided valuable measurements of these events. The major deficiencies in the measurements taken from geosynchronous orbit today, relative to these guidelines, are 1) the lack of temperature profiles and moisture profiles below clouds, and the poor vertical resolution of these profiles; 2) the insufficient combination of spatial resolution and temporal resolution and spectral intervals available in generating images (imaging) and 3) the lack of accurate precipitation mapping. Considerably more-powerful instrumentation is possible on geosynchronous satellites that can substantially reduce these deficiencies. The capability of advanced geosynchronous observations and those expected with future instrumentation in low-orbit are evaluated with respect to tropical cyclone and severe local-storm observational guidelines. A high percentage of the guidelines are expected to be fulfilled with geosynchronous measurements: 1) using microwave instruments for imaging and for obtaining temperature profiles and moisture profiles, 2) very high spectral-resolution infrared profiling, 3) very high spatial-resolution and very high temporal-resolution imaging, and 4) ozone mapping.
ISSN:0003-0007
1520-0477
DOI:10.1175/1520-0477(1987)068<0021:AEOOFS>2.0.CO;2