Impact of Adaptively Thinned GOES-16 Cloud Water Path in an Ensemble Data Assimilation System

Assimilation of cloud properties in the convective scale ensemble data assimilation system is one of the prime topics of research in recent years. Satellites can retrieve cloud properties that are important sources of information of the cloud and atmospheric state. The Advance Baseline Imager (ABI) aboard the GOES-16 geostationary satellite brings an opportunity for retrieving high spatiotemporal resolution cloud properties, including cloud water path over continental United States. This study investigates the potential impacts of assimilating adaptively thinned GOES-16 cloud water path (CWP) observations that are assimilated by the ensemble-based Warn-on-Forecast System and the impact on subsequent weather forecasts. In this study, for CWP assimilation, multiple algorithms have been developed and tested using the adaptive-based thinning method. Three severe weather events are considered that occurred on 19 July 2019, 7 May and 21 June 2020. The superobbing procedure used for CWP data smoothed from 5 to 15 km or more depending on thinning algorithm. The overall performance of adaptively thinned CWP assimilation in the Warn-on-Forecast system is assessed using an object-based verification method. On average, more than 60% of the data was reduced and therefore not used in the assimilation system. Results suggest that assimilating less than 40% of CWP superobbing data into the Warn-on-Forecast system is of similar forecast quality to those obtained from assimilating all available CWP observations. The results of this study can be used on the benefits of cloud assimilation to improve numerical simulation.