Severe Weather Study in Middle and High Oceanic Latitudes using Aqua AMSR-E

A variety of severe weather events impact the coastal zones, ships and offshore industry year round, however, only part of mesoscale events was marked on the weather maps. The Aqua AMSR-E higher spatial resolution and availability of simultaneous visible and infrared MODIS data have produced measurements of the marine weather systems that are not available from any other satellite. Efficiency of AMSR-E measurements is shown by detailed consideration of severe weather events over the Northwest Pacific Ocean. They include heavy rains and snowfalls caused by passing of cyclones from the Yellow Sea to the Japan Sea, strong winds in the areas of polar lows and cold air outbreaks over the Asian Marginal Seas and in the Northwest Pacific. QuikSCAT-derived wind fields and Aqua MODIS images and surface analysis maps are used as supplementary information. The satellite information provided by AMSR-E and other sensors is a good tool for monitoring the events and issuing a reasonable nowcast.