A review of the space based remote sensing for NWP

Abstract

Space based remote sensing provides continuous and contiguous information about the state of the Earth-atmosphere system which is crucial to Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP). Since 1960, after the successful launch of the first weather satellite TIROS-1, a range of weather satellites carrying different sensors to monitor atmospheric parameters used in NWP have not only improved the weather forecasting but also enhanced our understanding of the physical and dynamical processes in the atmosphere. Satellite based earth observing system provides data in different spatial and temporal resolutions from the geostationary and low-earth orbits. This review briefly describes general introduction to both active and passive satellite remote sensing, various satellite sensors used for NWP applications in the past an d in the present and observational data requirements for future NWP models. The presentation also includes the importance of re-calibration of satellite observations of the past, especially the data from Indian satellites (INSAT series) which can be used in the atmospheric reanalysis in the future.