CEE Seminar: Promises & Challenges in Assimilation of Infrared & Microwave All-Sky Satellite Radiances

Abstract: The potential of assimilating GOES-R all-sky infrared brightness temperatures on the analysis and prediction of severe weather and tropical cyclones is first demonstrated through cloud-resolving experiments with the Penn State ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) data assimilation system. We developed an empirical flow-dependent adaptive observation error inflation method limit erroneous analysis increments where there are large representativeness errors, as is often the case for cloudy-affected radiance observations. To facilitate assimilation of all-sky microwave radiance from polar-orbiting satellites, we further modify the Community Radiative Transfer Model (CRTM) to ensure that the cloud- and precipitation particle-scattering properties for calculating microwave radiances are consistent with the particle properties and size distributions internal to microphysics parameterization schemes. The use of microphysics-consistent cloud-scattering properties in the CRTM helps with developing a more self-consistent tool for analyzing and constraining microphysics schemes, and to improve all-sky microwave radiance assimilation for convection-permitting analysis and prediction. Assimilation of both infrared and microwave all-sky radiances also offers great promise in future generation global precipitation estimation through data-model integration.

Bio: Fuqing Zhang is a professor in the Department of Meteorology and Department of Statistics at Pennsylvania State University. He also directs the Penn State center on advanced data assimilation and predictability techniques (ADAPT). He has made major contributions to the fundamental understanding of atmospheric dynamics and predictability. Zhang has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications. He has served on various evaluation panels or advisory committees for numerous organizations including NSF, NASA, NOAA, Office of Naval Research, American Meteorological Society and National Academies, as well providing expert advice for several weather-related private businesses. Zhang has received numerous awards for his research and service, such as the American Meteorological Society's 2009 Clarence Leroy Meisinger Award and the American Meteorological Society’s 2015 Banner I. Miller Award  Most recently, he is the 2018 recipient of the Penn State Faculty Scholar Medal in Physical Sciences. He also is an elected fellow of the American Meteorological Society.