Assimilation of SEVIRI infrared radiances with HIRLAM 4D-Var

Four-dimensional variational data assimilation (4D-Var) systems are ideally suited to obtain the best possible initial model state by utilizing information about the dynamical evolution of the. atmospheric state from observations, such as satellite measurements, distributed over a certain period of time. In recent years, 4D-Var systems have been developed for several global and limited-area models. At the same time, spatially and temporally highly resolved satellite observations, as for example performed by the Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) on board the Meteosat Second Generation satellites, have become available. Here we demonstrate the benefit of a regional NWP model's analyses and forecasts gained by the assimilation of those radiances. The 4D-Var system of the High Resolution Limited Area Model (HIRLAM) has been adjusted to utilize three of SEVIRI's infrared channels (located around 6.2 mu m, 7.3 mu m, and 13.4 mu m, respectively) under clear-sky and low-level cloud conditions. Extended assimilation and forecast experiments show that the main direct impact of assimilated SEVIRI radiances on the atmospheric analysis were additional tropospheric humidity and wind increments. Forecast verification reveals a positive impact for almost all upper-air variables throughout the troposphere. Largest improvements are found for humidity and geopotential height in the middle troposphere. The observations in regions of low-level clouds provide especially beneficial information to the NWP system, which highlights the importance of satellite observations in cloudy areas for further improvements in the accuracy of weather forecasts. Copyright (C) 2009 Royal Meteorological Society