The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
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Impact of aircraft and Aeolus data in ECMWF forecasts before and after the COVID-19-related reduction in air traffic. Forecast Sensitivity to Observation Influence (FSOI) measures how various observing systems influence the ECMWF numerical weather forecast quality. The figure shows the total impact [Mega J/kg] of aircraft data and Aeolus data for two weeks before and after the reduction in aircraft data owing to COVID-19. The impact of Aeolus has increased by 23%. This is impressive considering that the number of Aeolus observations are considerably lower than the number of aircraft observations, as can be seen in the plot linked here.
Read full story: COVID-19: Aeolus and weather forecasts