REVIEW OF OBSERVING SYSTEM SIMULATION EXPERIMENTS TO EVALUATE THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF LIDAR WINDS ON WEATHER PREDICTION

Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) are an important tool for evaluating the potential impact of proposed new observing systems, as well as for evaluating trade-offs in observing system design, and in developing and assessing improved methodology for assimilating new observations. Extensive OSSEs have been conducted at NASA/GSFC and NOAA/AOML in collaboration with Simpson Weather Associates and operational data assimilation centers over the last 25 years. These OSSEs determined correctly the quantitative potential for several proposed satellite observing systems to improve weather prediction prior to their launch, and evaluated trade-offs in orbits, coverage, and accuracy for space-based wind lidars. In this paper, we summarize OSSE methodology and present results from OSSEs to assess the potential impact of lidar winds.