
A cold air outbreak over the Norwegian Sea observed with the TIROS-N Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) and the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I)
Abstract
Until recently, the scarcity of meteorological observations over polar areas has limited studies of high-latitude weather systems, but now data from polar orbiting satellites offer a new opportunity to observe and describe these systems. TOVS data have been used successfully for delineating synoptic and sub-synoptic systems, since they provide the vertical temperature structure of the atmosphere; SSM/I observations have proved valuable for analysing storms through water vapour and rain determinations. These positive results prompted us to analyze simultaneous TOVS and SSM/I observations obtained during a cold air outbreak over the Norwegian Sea. After a description of the instruments and the retrieval schemes, the mutually supporting information from these two independent instruments is discussed. Implications for the monitoring of polar lows are presented.
© 1992 Chantal Claud, Kristina B. Katsaros, Grant W. Petty, Alain Chedin, Noelle A. Scott, published by Stockholm University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.