Title: The Radiometric Sensitivity Requirements for Satellite Microwave Temperature Sounding Instruments for Numerical Weather Prediction
Abstract: Abstract The sensitivity of NWP forecast accuracy with respect to the radiometric performance of microwave sounders is assessed through a series of observing system experiments at the Met Office and ECMWF. The observing system experiments compare the impact of normal data from a single Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) with that from an AMSU where synthetic noise has been added. The results show a measurable reduction in forecast improvement in the Southern Hemisphere, with improvements reduced by 11% for relatively small increases in radiometric noise [noise-equivalent brightness temperature (NEΔT) increased from 0.1 to 0.2 K for remapped data]. The impact of microwave sounding data is shown to be significantly less than was the case prior to the use of advanced infrared sounder data [Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI)], with microwave sounding data now reducing Southern Hemisphere forecast errors by approximately 10% compared to 40% in the pre-AIRS/IASI period.