Several opportunities exist to improve our view on mesoscale dynamics using scatterometer winds. First, a constellation of scatterometers exists, measuring high-resolution winds on several local times a day, which enables the depiction of mesoscale dynamics. An update will be given of the quality, quantity and timeliness of the constellation winds. Second, MetOp-A and MetOp-B both operate an ASCAT scatterometer in tandem, where the left and right swaths of both instruments overlap between 40S and 40N with a time difference of about 50 minutes. Since the convection time scale is about 30 minutes, the subsequent spatial wind fields of the tandem ASCAT swaths, separated by 50 minutes, show unique signatures of the convective systems in the changing surface wind field. These changes are compared to satellite precipitation measurements in order to improve our understanding of the major convective downburst as depicted by the tandem ASCAT scatterometers. In particular in tropical convective areas, the convection downbursts principally affect the air-sea interaction process, but which are not incorporated in global weather and climate models. A third topic is our improved understanding of the scatterometer wind retrieval residual, called MLE, which is basically a measure of the surface wind variability. It will be shown that the MLE is indeed able to depict synoptic and mesoscale fronts, squall lines and convective features, which may aid forecasters in nowcasting extreme weather

12th International Winds Workshop, 15-20 June 2014, Copenhagen, Denmark.-- 1 page

Peer Reviewed