New radiosonde temperature and humidity bias correction
Increase in number of radio occultation data from COSMIC
Assimilation of AMSR-E, TMI, SSMIS window channels (clear sky)
Assimilation of SBUV ( NOAA-17, NOAA-18) and monitoring of OMI ozone data
Corrections to the radiation post-processing in the IFS will correct/improve the following parameters:
57 (UVB) Downward UV radiation at the surface
58 (PAR) Photosynthetically active radiation at the surface
59 (CAPE) Convective available potential energy
ENS
initial perturbation amplitude reduced by 30%
singular vectors targeted on tropical cyclones are computed with the new moist physics package in the tangent-linear and adjoint models (as used in the operational in 4D- Var since cycle 32r2).
Meteorological impact
improved scores for the extra-tropical southern hemisphere throughout the forecast range, and for the northern hemisphere in the first half of the forecast
substantial improvement to the lower tropospheric winds in the tropics compared to observations
reduction in the biases of 2m temperature mainly over the Americas
improved precipitation forecasts over Europe
ENS
reduction of the initial perturbation amplitude resulted in a good match of spread and ensemble mean error
probabilistic skill is generally improved at mid-latitudes
improved reliability of the tropical cyclone strike probability forecasts
neutral impact in the extra-tropics
beneficial impact on probabilistic precipitation forecasts over Europe.
New and changed parameters
New parameters
Four new pressure levels in the analyses and HRES forecast runs: 600, 800, 900 and 950 hPa.