Arctic Weather Satellite is launched: An ESA/EUMETSAT project to improve monitoring and forecasting over the Arctic
On August 16, 2024, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Arctic Weather Satellite (AWS) was successfully launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. This mission aims to show how a potential polar-orbiting constellation of small satellites, observing clouds, humidity and temperature, can improve the quality of short-term forecasts and climate simulations over the Arctic.
One of the main aims of the PCAPS project is to enhance the accuracy of weather forecasts in the Arctic. This has been a very challenging task for many years. The quality of atmospheric simulations relies heavily on the availability and usage of satellite data since the coverage of conventional data north of 70°N is very low. Conventional observations include atmospheric measurements from aircraft, ships, buoys, synoptic stations and radiosondes. As shown in Figures A, B, and C below, the coverage of these types of measurements is significantly lower than the coverage provided by satellite observations (Figure D).
Maps of available observations over the AROME-Arctic domain on 02/09/2024 09UTC from (top left, clockwise): A) ships, B) aircraft, C) surface synoptic stations, and D) satellite observations. Figure credits: Stephanie Guedj via OBSMON
The AWS satellite is carrying a 19-channel cross-track microwave radiometer. A rotating mirror collects temperature and humidity data from the atmosphere as well as information on surface properties, even in thick clouds, storms, and rain. In addition, the radiometer is expected to provide some unprecedented information on cloud characteristics thanks to the new set of channels located around 325 GHz that has never been explored before.
The first image from the Arctic Weather Satellite. Photo credits: OHB Sweden
MET Norway has been heavily involved in the AWS mission preparation. As part of the Swedish-lead ESA/AWS project, work has been done to set up a version of the operational AROME-Arctic forecast system to assimilate AWS, and contribute to the early calibration and validation of the data. In parallel, some preliminary studies for the EPS-Sterna constellation were also run in a simulated environment showing a potential improvement of forecast skill up to 7%.
AWS in action. Source: ESA
We are now ready and heavily thrilled to ingest the first batch of data that will be received as soon as the instrument has reached its final orbit. So far so good!