1. Ed Szoke 1 April 12, 2005 TAMDAR Project – April Boulder Meeting Ed Szoke* NOAA Forecast Systems Laboratory *Joint collaboration with the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO

2. Ed Szoke 2 April 12, 2005 Overview Assessing TAMDAR data quality Method Compare TAMDAR soundings with each other Compare to nearby ACARS soundings (for T) Compare to a “verifying” raob sounding Concentrated on DTW and MSP Also looked at MEM when CLASS soundings were present

3. Ed Szoke 3 April 12, 2005 Example 1: 7 March 05/1200 UTC ● A look at some TAMDAR soundings ● A large variation in quality of this sounding sample ● Some from MSP, some compared to CIMMS soundings in MEM

4. Ed Szoke 4 April 12, 2005 Weather on 7 March: NW flow, scattered snow showers at 1100 UTC at MSP

5. Ed Szoke 5 April 12, 2005 TAMDAR soundings with raob comparison at MSP-sharp inversion While there is quite a bit of variability (possibly the time differences could account for some of this), the sharp inversion is well captured.

6. Ed Szoke 6 April 12, 2005 TAMDAR soundings with raob comparison at MSP Raob is in green again. This set of soundings is not very good.

7. Ed Szoke 7 April 12, 2005 Weather on 7 March at MEM: SW low-level flow, scattered showers and thunderstorms at 1400 UTC

8. Ed Szoke 8 April 12, 2005 TAMDAR soundings with CLASS soundings at Memphis One bad sounding but overall pretty good agreement especially with moisture.

9. Ed Szoke 9 April 12, 2005 TAMDAR soundings with CLASS soundings at Memphis One bad sounding again, but also more variability in this group. But in terms of RH, the general character of the moisture seems to be captured.

10. Ed Szoke 10 April 12, 2005 Example 2: 9 March 05/1200 UTC ● A look at some ACARS soundings ● Does a sample of ACARS soundings show good agreement or is it more variable like some of the TAMDARs?

11. Ed Szoke 11 April 12, 2005 Weather on 9 March 05/1200 UTC Area of rain near Memphis

12. Ed Szoke 12 April 12, 2005 ACARS soundings out of Memphis Very good agreement for this set close in time and space.

13. Ed Szoke 13 April 12, 2005 Another set of ACARS soundings out of Memphis Good overall agreement for this set close in time and space.

14. Ed Szoke 14 April 12, 2005 ACARS compared to 2 TAMDAR soundings out of Memphis Decent agreement except for the point around 820 mb for the 1346z sounding.

15. Ed Szoke 15 April 12, 2005 Example 3: 1 April 05/1200 UTC ● Good agreement at MSP and DTW where the weather was dry ● More variability though at MEM where there was some rain in the area.

16. Ed Szoke 16 April 12, 2005 Weather on 1 April 05/1200 UTC Wet near Memphis, dry MSP and DTW area

17. Ed Szoke 17 April 12, 2005 ACARS and TAMDAR soundings out of MSP The general structure of the RH below 800 mb is captured in the TAMDAR soundings. Temperature agreement though is not that great.

18. Ed Szoke 18 April 12, 2005 ACARS and TAMDAR soundings out of MSP Overall pretty good agreement.

19. Ed Szoke 19 April 12, 2005 TAMDAR soundings vs RAOB from DTW All the TAMDARs do a very good job of showing the dry layer near 800 mb.

20. Ed Szoke 20 April 12, 2005 TAMDAR soundings vs RAOB from DTW This set also resolves the dry layer.

21. Ed Szoke 21 April 12, 2005 TAMDAR and ACARS soundings soundings at Memphis Rain in the area could be the cause of more disagreement among the soundings, but agreement is good aob 900 mb.

22. Ed Szoke 22 April 12, 2005 Example 4: 2 April case: more weather than the last example Radar for DTW at 1200 UTC. Detroit at the nw edge of a major storm system to the east.

23. Ed Szoke 23 April 12, 2005 TAMDAR soundings vs RAOB from DTW Something goes bad with the 1223z sounding, getting way too warm at 700 mb.

24. Ed Szoke 24 April 12, 2005 ACARS soundings vs RAOB from DTW Some temperature problems appear to also be found in this set of ACARS soundings.

25. Ed Szoke 25 April 12, 2005 TAMDAR and ACARS soundings vs RAOB from DTW Quite a bit of spread shown in this set.

26. Ed Szoke 26 April 12, 2005 Example 5: 4 April 05/1200 UTC ● End on a good note with good agreement ● Fair weather at MSP and DTW

27. Ed Szoke 27 April 12, 2005 Weather on 1 April 05/1200 UTC Wet near Memphis, dry MSP and DTW area

28. Ed Szoke 28 April 12, 2005 TAMDAR soundings vs RAOB from MSP Excellent temperature agreement for the 1205z sounding with a distinct low level inversion.

29. Ed Szoke 29 April 12, 2005 TAMDAR soundings vs RAOB from MSP Overall good agreement with both temperature and dew point.

30. Ed Szoke 30 April 12, 2005 TAMDAR soundings vs RAOB from MSP Same with this set.

31. Ed Szoke 31 April 12, 2005 TAMDAR soundings vs RAOB from DTW Good agreement with the DTW raob; key feature here is the dry layer beginning near 800 mb.

32. Ed Szoke 32 April 12, 2005 TAMDAR soundings vs RAOB from DTW Good agreement, again the dry layer is well captured.

33. Ed Szoke 33 April 12, 2005 TAMDAR soundings vs RAOB from DTW Same with this set.

34. Ed Szoke 34 April 12, 2005 Summary of TAMDAR comparisons ● From comparisons since late February… ● The number of questionable TAMDAR soundings appears to be less than in the early days of the project, likely a result of bad sensors being flagged. ● Examples demonstrated that the TAMDAR soundings are able to capture distinct dry and moist layers and sharp inversions. ● Overall, the quality appears in general to be good enough to be an important source of moisture data in the lower part of the atmosphere. Such information is very hard to get with any current sensors.