Arctic Weather Satellite offers clearer view of cyclones

Although ESA’s small Arctic Weather Satellite was built as a demonstrator for a future constellation, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is now incorporating its data into its operational weather forecast system.

The beneficial impact of assimilating Arctic Weather Satellite into ECMWF’s forecast system can already be seen in several fields. This figure shows that its new 325 GHz channel (bottom) observes much colder brightness temperatures during a typhoon compared to the 89 GHz channel (top) and the 180 GHz (middle). These observations were made over Typhoon Yinxing, south of Hong Kong, in November 2024. The typhoon later made landfall in Vietnam.

Read full story: ESA’s Arctic Weather Satellite adds power to forecasts