Prof. Zhaoxia Pu gives an invited talk at the AMS 23rd Conference on Weather Analysis and Forecasting/19th Conference on Numerical Weather Prediction.

Prof. Zhaoxia Pu gave an invited talk at the AMS 23rd Conference on Weather Analysis and Forecasting/19th Conference on Numerical Weather Prediction on June 1, 2009.  The title of her talk was "Assimilation of satellite data in improving high-impact weather forecasting: Progress, Challenge and Development.".

High-impact weather systems refer to these events that have significant social, ecological and economic impacts (such as tropical cyclones, floods).  Accurate forecasts of these systems rely on better representation of them in numerical models.  Satellites provide a very useful source of data for improving our ability in high-impact weather forecasting.  Over the last decade, significant progress has been made in satellite data assimilation.  Satellite data become a major data source in the numerical weather prediction.  However, compared with the general success in the use of satellite data in improving weather forecasts,  accurate forecasts of the intensity and structure of high-impact weather systems remain a challenging problem, partly due to our limited ability to fully use available satellite data.

In her presentation, Dr. Pu reviewed recent progress in satellite data assimilation for improving high-impact weather forecasting.  She also discussed the general problem, challenges, and potential development in this area based on her recent research results.