Using Satellite-Derived Atmospheric Motion Vector (AMV) Observations in the Ensemble Data Assimilation System

The use of global Atmospheric Motion Vectors (AMV) satellite observations in the meteorological data assimilation system based on Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter (LETKF) algorithm is considered. The height assignment is the most crucial error source for AMV observations. To reduce its impact, the AMV height reassignment method is implemented; it is based on the consistency coefficient bet ween the observed and the background winds. The other way to improve the analysis quality is a more accurate specification of AMV observation errors. This necessitates the use of the nondiagonal observation-error covariance matrix R in the data assimilation scheme. The first results of these studies are presented. It is demonstrated that the use of AMV observations in the data assimilation system reduces the errors of forecasts computed from the initial data of this system.