Data assimilation of satellite-based rainfall into a forecasting model over the Philippines

Abstract

An assimilation technique is used to adjust the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model based on satellite-derived rainfall rates. This research focuses on the modification of the mixing ratio based on the difference in precipitation between the satellite and model simulations. Two case studies were considered: 1) Typhoon Saola (August, 2012) and 2) Typhoon Washi (December, 2011). Changes were made based on TRMM and QMORPH data where available. Results show that assimilations helped improve the accuracy of the model, particularly for TRMM-based modifications while the model shows difficulty in QMORPH-based assimilation due to the hourly changing precipitation systems.