Simulated MSG SEVIRI imagery from the HARMONIE-AROME high-resolution numerical weather prediction model: applications in AEMET

Abstract

Simulated Satellite Imagery (SSI), generated by applying a radiative transfer (RT) model to atmospheric profiles from Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model output, has become increasingly realistic during the last decade, as a result of advances in both NWP and RT modeling. In particular, current high-resolution mesoscale NWP models have nominal horizontal resolutions in the same range as geostationary imagery. SSI has a wide range of applications, of which perhaps the best known is as proxy for new platform-sensor. Another application area of SSI is operational weather forecasting: 1) simulated images can be used as snapshots of the atmospheric state represented by an NWP forecast, and 2) the comparison between observed images and simulated images from an NWP analysis or a very short-range forecast can help make an overall assessment of the initial conditions of that forecast. Another application of SSI is NWP model development and validation: the comparison of simulated and observed imagery can help assess the ability of a specific NWP model-version to represent atmospheric processes. This contribution presents work in progress in AEMET (Spanish Meteorological Institute), within the HIRLAM (HIgh Resolution Limited Area Model) European consortium, with simulated SEVIRI imagery from the HARMONIE-AROME mesoscale model and the RT model RTTOV (Radiative Transfer for TOVS), to explore and develop applications of SSI, focusing on the comparison between simulated and observed imagery in the areas of operational forecasting and NWP model validation. SEVIRI (Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager) is the main payload of the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) geostationary satellites, and this work focuses on SEVIRI channels IR10.8 and WV6.2.