Due to its sensitivity to water vapor, high resolution, and global availability, interferometric satellite radar (InSAR) has a large but unexploited potential for the improvement of regional NWP models. A relatively straightforward approach is to exploit the exact instantaneous character of the InSAR data in data assimilation to improve the timing of NWP model realizations. Here we show the potential impact of InSAR data on the NWP model timing and subsequently on improved model performance. By time-shifting the model to find the best match with the InSAR data we show that we can achieve a model error reduction (one-sigma) of up to 40% in cases where weather fronts are present, while other cases show more modest improvements. Most model performance gain due to time-shifts can therefore be achieved in cases where weather fronts are present over the study area. The model-timing errors related to the maximum model error reduction for these cases are in the order of (Formula presented.) 30 min. ... Read more

For a number of years research has been carried out in several centres which has demonstrated the potential benefits of 100-m scale models for a range of meteorological phenomena. More recently, some meteorological services have started to consider seriously the operational implementation of practical hectometric models. Many, but by no means all, of the applications are likely to relate to urban areas, where the enhanced resolution has obvious benefits. This article is concerned with the issues that need to be addressed to bridge the gap between research at 100-m scales and practical models. We highlight a number of key issues that need to be addressed, with suggestions of important avenues for future development. An overarching issue is the high computational cost of these models. Although some ideas to reduce this are presented, it will always be a serious constraint. This means that the benefits of these models over lower resolution ones, or other techniques for generating high-resolution forecasts, will need to be clearly understood, as will the trade-offs with resolution. We discuss issues with model dynamical cores and physics–dynamics coupling. There are a number of challenges around model parameterisations, where some of the traditional problems (e.g., convection) become easier but a number of new challenges (e.g., around surface parameterisations) appear. Observational data at these scales present a challenge and novel types of observations will need to be considered. Data assimilation will be needed for short-range forecasts, but there is currently little knowledge of this, although some of the likely issues are clear. An ensemble approach will be essential in many cases (e.g., convection), but research is needed into ensembles at these scales and significant work on post-processing systems is required to make the best use of models at these grid lengths. ... Read more

Numerical weather prediction (NWP) models are used to predict the weather based on current observations in combination with physical and mathematical models. Yet, they are limited by the spatial density and the accuracy of the available observations. Satellite radar interferometry (InSAR) is known to be extremely sensitive to the 3D atmospheric refractivity distribution, and has a high spatial resolution, providing information that can be used for assimilation in NWP models. However, due to the inherent superposition of two or more atmospheric states, only biased and temporally differenced signals can be retrieved, that can also be contaminated by deformation signals and decorrelation. Here we present a method to estimate single-epoch absolute atmospheric delays by combining InSAR time series with prior NWP model prediction time series, using a constrained least-squares estimation. We show that this leads to a solution that reliably extracts the single-epoch relative delays from InSAR data and uses prior NWP model data to find the absolute reference for these delays, while mitigating long-term deformation and decorrelation signal. This approach leads to repetitive delay updates with a spatial resolution of 500 m, that can be directly assimilated into numerical weather models. ... Read more

InSAR signal delays due to the varying atmospheric refractivity are a potential data source to improve weathermodels [1]. Especially with the launch of the new Sentinel-1 satellites, which increases data coverage, latency andaccessibility, it may become possible to operationalize the assimilation of differential integrated refractivity (DIR)values in numerical weather models. Although studies exist on comparison between InSAR data and weathermodels [2], the impact of assimilation of DIR values in an operational weather model has never been assessed. Inthis study we present different ways to assimilate DIR values in an operational weather model and show the firstforecast results. ... Read more

The influence of signal delay due to the varying atmospheric refractivity can be significant in individual interferograms. This signal is generally considered to be noise in deformation studies, but it can also potentially be used to improve weather models [1]. This application has an enormous potential, because, contrary to deformation studies, every acquired SAR image contains valuable information on the state of the atmosphere. ... Read more

Over the last decades, several case studies confirmed that it is possible to isolate the atmospheric signal delay from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery and showed very promising results. However, the temporal or spatial coverage of the available satellite missions was low, which restricted the application to case studies only. With the launch of the Sentinel-1 satellites a new SAR dataset became available, with unprecedented temporal and spatial coverage. In this study we show that differential integrated refractivity (DIR) from SAR imagery can be a great data source for both validation of weather models validation and for data assimilation in weather forecasts. To derive the DIR estimates a stack of sentinel-1 images is processed and continuously updated. The general repeat time of the Sentinel 1a is 12 days at the equator, but by using a combination of overlapping descending and ascending orbits a repeat time of 3 to 4 can be achieved above mid-latitudes. This repeat time can be reduced to 1 to 2 days once the data from the Sentinel 1b becomes available. The DIR values are calculated by subtracting SAR retrievals at different epochs, which are corrected for topography and earth curvature. Then the resulting DIR maps or interferograms are unwrapped and the integrated refractivity of individual epochs is derived using a network approach. Finally, refractivity data from global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is used to convert relative refractivity values to absolute refractivity values. This method results in refractivity maps with much higher resolution and accuracy than current operational weather models and measurement networks. Therefore, it gives us a unique dataset to validate weather models or improve weather models using data assimilation. Additionally, these refractivity maps could give us more insight in weather phenomena, which are not captured by other measuring techniques. To demonstrate the quality and resolution of this dataset, we will show our results alongside maps of calculated refractivity based on weather model parameters. The development of these time series is a first step to the generation of an operational refractivity product and the implementation of this product into operational weather models. ... Read more