THORPex: The Observing-system Research and Predictability Experiment

THORPex: The Observing-system Research and Predictability Experiment (THORPex)

2003

A program of the WMO, THORPEX was planned to be a “ten-year international research program to accelerate improvements in short-range (up to 3 days) and medium-range (3 to 10 days) … predictions and warnings of high-impact weather over the Northern Hemisphere.” Like the World Weather Experiment (FGGE) in 1978, THORPEX utilized technologies and strategies developed during the planning period. CIMSS participated in THORPEX planning, which included shorter regional programs, including one over the Pacific Ocean in the winter of 2003, followed by one over the Atlantic in 2004. Agencies from around the world, including many in the U.S. and Europe, were involved. The ambitious program pursued several goals, among them identifying geographical regions where new permanent observing systems would most greatly improve Northern Hemispheric forecasts. Another THORPEX goal was developing improved strategies for targeting in-situ and satellite observing systems. Cloudy regions where a greater vertical resolution is needed was a special focus.

From http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/media/April2002.html

Investigators

Christopher S. Velden Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS)

Related Projects

Related Websites

Publications

Antonelli, A.; Revercomb, H. E.; Knuteson, R. O. ; Tobin, D. C.; Dutcher, S.; Smith, W. L., and Zhou, D. Validation and comparison of S-HIS and NAST-I retrievals for THORPEX 2003 . International TOVS Study Conference, 13th, Sainte-Adele, Quebec, Canada, 29 October-4 November 2003 (proceedings). Melbourne, Australia, Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre, 2003, pp374-381. Reprint #4489.
Antonelli, P. B.; Cherubini, T.; Knuteson, R. O. ; Revercomb, H. E.; Businger, S.; Smith, W. L. ; Zhou, D. K.; Feltz, W. F., and Dutcher, S. B. THORPEX 2003: Addressing the observing capabilites of S-HIS and their impact on MM sub (5) numerical weather forecasts. International Asia-Pacific Environmental Remote Sensing Symposium, 4th: Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere, Ocean, Environment, and Space, Honolulu, Hawaii, 8-11 November 2004. Passive Optical Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere and Clouds IV (proceedings). Bellingham, WA, SPIE-International Society for Optical Engineering, 2005, abstract only, manuscript unavailable for publication.
Antonelli, Paolo; Cherubini, T.; Revercomb, H.; Businger, S.; Knuteson, R.; Posselt, D., and Ackerman, S. Comparison of S-HIS temperature and water vapor retrievals to MM5 derived fields for THORPEX 2003. Symposium on Integrated Observing and Assimilation Systems for Atmosphere, Oceans, and Land Surface, 8th, Seattle, WA, 11-15 January 2004 (preprints). Boston, MA, American Meteorological Society, 2004, manuscript not available for publication.
Dutcher, Steven T.; Garcia, Ray K.; Dedecker, Ralph G.; Knuteson, Robert O.; Smuga-Otto, Meciek; Hackel, Denny J.; Nasiri, Shaima, and Antonelli, Paolo. Hyperspectral data storage: Prototype implementation using the 2003 Pacific THORPEX dataset. International Conference on Interactive Information and Processing Systems (IIPS) for Meteorology, Oceanography, and Hydrology, 20th, Seattle, WA, 11-15 January 2004 (preprints). Boston, MA, American Meteorological Society, 2004, Paper P2.30. Reprint #3648.
Jones, Sarah C.; Velden, Christopher S.; Aberson, Sim; Abraham, Jim, and Karr, Patrick A. Extratropical transition and THORPEX. Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology, 26th, Miami, FL, 3-7 May 2004 (preprints). Boston, MA, American Meteorological Society, 2004, pp643-644. Reprint #3986.