Back to basics: from sputnik to envisat, and beyond: the use of satellite measurements in weather forecasting and research: Part 2 - data assimilation and weather forecasting

摘要

This is the second of three articles on meteorological satellites, and their current usage in meteorology. The first article gave a brief history of meteorological satellites and an overview of the current usage of operational satellites. In this article we describe how satellite data can be used in modern weather forecasting, and how some data from research satellites are also being used, again via the process of data assimilation, in numerical models of the atmosphere. The final article will concentrate on some of the potential uses of the recently launched Envisat satellite.