Reviewer
Ming Hu (NOAA/ESRL)
Road Map
The review intends to shed light on the current systems that assimilate cloud information in a quasi-operational context. Whereas the ultimate goal is to achieve convective scale data assimilation (DA) of clouds and precipitations (Errico etal., 2007), the review may cover and explain expertise gained in the development and testing of current cloud assimilation schemes. Suggested systems to be described include the MetOffice MOP cloud data analysis (Jones and Macpherson, 1997), the NOAA rapid refresh (Weygand etal, 2006), the Air Force Weather Agency RealTime Nephanalysis, the Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms Cloud Analysis scheme (Hu etal., 2006) as well as other implementations of DA of cloud-derived information.
Non-exhaustive list of publications and earlier reviews
Errico, R.M., G. Ohring, P. Bauer, B. Ferrier, J.F. Mahfouf, J. Turk, and F. Weng, 2007: Assimilation of Satellite Cloud and Precipitation Observations in Numerical Weather Prediction Models: Introduction to the JAS Special Collection. J. Atmos. Sci., 64, 3737-3741.
Hu, M., M. Xue, and K. Brewster, 2006: 3DVAR and Cloud Analysis with WSR-88D Level-II Data for the Prediction of the Fort Worth, Texas, Tornadic Thunderstorms. Part I: Cloud Analysis and Its Impact. Mon. Wea. Rev., 134, 675-698.
Jones C. and B Macpherson, 1997: A latent heat nudging scheme for the assimilation of precipitation data into an operational mesoscale model. Meteorol. Appl. 4, 269-277
Weygandt S., S.G. Benjamin, and coauthors, 2006:http://www-frd.fsl.noaa.gov/pub/papers/Weygandt2006a/cp.pdfCloud and hydrometeor analysis using metar, radar, and satellite data within the RUC/Rapid-Refresh model._12th Conference on Aviation Range and Aerospace Meteorology_