Impact of a new cloud motion wind product from meteosat on NWP analyses and forecasts

Enhanced wind datasets of the European satellite Meteosat are now provided every 90 mins together with the quality indicator (QI) derived by the quality control of the Meteorological Product Extraction Facility (MPEF) at the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites. All three channel cloud motion winds and clear sky water vapor motion winds have been passively monitored by comparison with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts model background field. The evaluation of the relationship between the MPEF QI and the observation - background differences indicate possible benefits to be gained from the use of the QI within the observation screening of the assimilation system. The MPEF quality indicator is used as a selection criterion within the screening. The applied thresholds are restricted in the Tropics compared to the extratropical regions where the threshold for high-level winds has been relaxed below the automatic quality control at MPEF. The wind data derived from imagery of both Meteosat platforms at 0 degrees and 118 degreesE are used in this study. The overall effect is an increase of active Meteosat winds by a factor of 2. This means a considerably increased impact of Meteosat winds on the tropospheric analyses. The assessment of mean wind increments indicates that the increased temporal sampling together with the use of the quality indicator within the observation screening leads to an improvement of the consistency of the atmospheric motion wind data actively used within the four-dimensional variational assimilation system. The averaged impact on the short- and medium-range forecasts is found to be neutral in the Northern Hemisphere and positive in the Southern Hemisphere. In a selected synoptic case study the use of the new Meteosat wind product indicates a considerable improvement of the medium-range forecasts for the North Atlantic and European areas.