Warning Information in a Preconvection Environment from the Geostationary Advanced Infrared Sounding System—A Simulation Study Using the IHOP Case

Abstract

In this paper, a convective initiation event from the International H2O Project (IHOP) field experiment is used to demonstrate the potential utility of a future geostationary advanced infrared (IR) sounder for severe storm nowcasting applications. An advanced IR sounder would provide detailed stability information (e.g., lifted index and other parameters) with high temporal resolution useful for determining favorable locations for convective initiation. Atmospheric data from a high-resolution Weather Research and Forecasting model simulation was used to generate simulated Hyperspectral Environmental Suite (HES) and Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) stability products. Comparison of these products shows that the ABI [or the current Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) Sounder] provides limited stability information before the storm development as a result of the limited spectral IR information for temperature and moisture profiling. The high spatial and temporal geostationary advanced IR sounder, however, can provide critical information about the destabilization much earlier than the current GOES Sounder or ABI.