Focus Taiwan
Date: 09/04/2020
By: Su Ssu-yun and Ko Lin
A two-dimensional imagery pinpointing the locations to which the constellation of six satellites belonging to FormoSat-7 is capable of providing data to when orbiting in the ±50-degrees latitude. Photo courtesy of NARLabs.
In a statement, NARLabs cited Sean Healy, a senior scientist at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, as saying that data provided by FormoSat-7, also known as COSMIC-2, has greatly helped improve the accuracy of numerical weather forecasts at the center.
"In early 2020, radio occultation data helped reduce errors in 24-hour forecasts by about 4 percent. With the addition of COSMIC-2 and Spire Global data, radio occultation accounted for 13 or 14 percent of error reduction," Healy said during an Aug. 12 webinar titled "Spire Weather — A Global Constellation Solution."
Also since March of this year, meteorologists have been seeing dramatic reductions in the amount of data provided by atmospheric sensors mounted on commercial aircraft, after the global airline industry came to a grinding halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [FULL STORY]
