NUCAPS Sounding Comparison

The 17z sounding at Lamont gave us an opportunity to test the NUCAPS soundings again. This time the accuracy was more acceptable. The strengths of NUCAPS were apparent. The first image below is the Lamont sounding valid at 17z. Below that image is a water vapor loop showing an area of dry mid-upper air advecting into northern Oklahoma by the time of the 19z NUCAPS sounding. For reference Point A was placed over Lamont.

 

Below is the NUCAPS sounding. You can see that it captures the mid-upper dry layer well.

 

You can see in the two images below that the RUC shows the trend but may not be pronounced enough with the mid-upper dry layer, and this is the one clear strength of NUCAPS. Perhaps there's an opportunity to augment the mid and upper moisture in the models with NUCAPS data. However, there still seem to be errors that have operational implications for the thermal and moisture profiles lower in the atmosphere.
 
 

-dryadiabat