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MTSAT High Density Winds

By Scott Bachmeier •

MTSAT High Density Winds (AWIPS menu)

MTSAT High Density Winds (AWIPS menu)

Beginning in October 2008,  “high density winds” (also known as Atmospheric Motion Vectors, or AMVs) derived from the Japanese geostationary  Multi-functional Transport Satellite (MTSAT-1R, which is positioned over the Equator at 140º East longitude) were added to the NOAAPORT Satellite Broadcast Network (SBN). National Weather Service forecast offices localized as West CONUS sites (or OCONUS offices in the Alaska Region and the Pacific Region) that have installed AWIPS Operational Build 9.0 or higher will be able to access these new MTSAT satellite winds products from the AWIPS menu (above).
TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION NOTICE 08-61
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
317 PM EDT FRI AUG 1 2008 

SUBJECT:  NESDIS HIGH DENSITY GEOSTATIONARY WINDS TO BE
          ADDED TO SBN/NOAAPORT: EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 15 2008 

EFFECTIVE WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 15 2008...BEGINNING AT APPROXIMATELY
1500 COORDINATED UNIVERSAL TIME /UTC/...THE NATIONAL
ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE...DATA...AND INFORMATION SERVICE /NESDIS/
AND NWS START DISSEMINATING HIGH DENSITY GEOSTATIONARY /MTSAT/
WIND PRODUCTS VIA SBN/NOAAPORT.

THE MTSAT WINDS /FROM THE JAPANESE SATELLITE/ WILL AUGMENT THE
CURRENT GOES EAST AND WEST HIGH DENSITY WINDS OVER SPARSE DATA
REGIONS...MOST BENEFITING THE ALASKA AND PACIFIC REGIONS AND THE
AVIATION WEATHER CENTER /AWC/.
Coverage of MTSAT vs GOES High Density Winds

Coverage of MTSAT High Density Winds vs GOES High Density Winds

A comparison of the areal coverage of the MTSAT vs the GOES high density winds is shown on the Pacific Mercator scale  (above) and Northern Hemisphere scale (below). The MTSAT high density winds will be available north of the Equator every 3 hours (at 02, 05, 08, 11, 14, 17, 20, and 23 UTC), and south of the Equator every 6 hours (at 00, 06, 12, and 18 UTC).

Coverage of MTSAT vs GOES High Density Winds

Coverage of MTSAT High Density Winds vs GOES High Density Winds

With the AWIPS cursor sampling function activated, the user will be able to display the valid time, the type of satellite imagery used to derive a particular AMV (Visible, InfraRed, shortwave InfraRed, or Water Vapor), the pressure of the height assignment for that AMV, and the direction/speed of that AMV (below). The wind vectors can be color-coded according to pressure layers (as shown below), or by AMV type (IR, Water Vapor, Visible, or 3.9 µm shortwave IR). Targets are tracked on three consecutive satellite images in order to calculate the direction and speed of each AMV.

MTSAT High Density Winds

MTSAT High Density Winds

These MTSAT winds available on AWIPS should be very similar to those derived using GOES data, since NESDIS is using the same AMV software (which was developed at CIMSS) for both satellites. For more details about the derivation and application of satellite-derived atmospheric motion vector products, see the SHyMet GOES High Density Winds lesson.

Reference:

Velden, C.S. et al., 2005: Recent Innovations in Deriving Winds from Meteorological Satellites. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 86, 205-223

– Updated 29 January 2009 –

Categories: MTSAT, Satellite winds, Training