Current activities
Patricia is Senior Scientist with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) where she is responsible of the land surface data assimilation team. Her research activities are focused on the development of a multi-variate surface data assimilation system in the Integrated Forecasting System (IFS) to cope with the increase in model complexity and new satellite data availability (e.g. ASCAT, SMOS, SMAP). Land surface analysis includes: screen level parameters analysis, snow analysis, soil moisture & temperature analysis.
She implemented a new soil moisture analysis scheme based on a point-wise Extended-Kalman Filter (EKF) for the global land surface in the ECMWF Integrated Forecasting System in November 2010. As part of the EKF implementation strategy a new surface analysis structure was implemented in 2009 to separate completely the upper air analysis and the surface analysis. The new EKF surface analysis opens the possibility to investigate the use of active (ASCAT) and passive (SMOS) microwave satellite data for soil moisture analysis in Numerical Weather Prediction.
Concerning snow, she conducted major research developments in the past few years to improve the quality of the snow analysis, to do a better usage of the satellite snow cover information (use of the IMS NESDIS snow cover information ) and to improve the SYNOP data quality control. She implemented implemented an Optimal Snow analysis (OI) in operations in November 2010 and further revision of the snow analysis, with improved assimilation of IMS snow cover data, including separate error specification that was implemented in IFS cycle 40r1 in November 2013. Land surface observation monitoring and improved land surface blacklisting system were part of these developments.
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