News | NWP SAF

News Archive

Please note that this only contains news items since September 2015. For older news, please refer to this table.

IRSPP v1.3 has been released - October 31, 2024
The main changes in IRSPP v1.3 are (i) to support the IRS test data released by EUMETSAT in July 2024, (ii) to remove obsolete HT-FRTC functionality (which is no longer supported in RTTOV) and substitute equivalent functionality for PC-RTTOV, (iii) to update the output BUFR sequence following user feedback. Further details at https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/software/irspp/
NRT availability monitoring update - September 12, 2024
The near-real time data availability monitoring has been extended to also provide timeliness information displayed on a geographical map plot. This is available for each monitored instrument four times daily for data in 6 hour time windows around 00 UTC, 06 UTC, 12 UTC, 18 UTC. The plots are based on DWD’s timeliness information. The new display feature may be used. to judge the data coverage available for a certain geographical area within a needed timeliness threshold. Please visit the NRT availability monitoring / timeliness web page to access the plots.
NWP SAF Workshop on Satellite Observations of the Earth System Interfaces - July 16, 2024
Interface observations refer to observations that are sensitive to multiple Earth system components, including atmosphere, land, sea ice, snow, and the ocean. They are key for Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) and reanalysis. In a coupled data assimilation framework, used in Earth system approaches, satellite-sensed interface observations have the unique potential to simultaneously constrain the various Earth system components, providing consistent initial and boundary conditions to Earth system prediction models. Topics: - provide an overview of the various interface observations which are available to the NWP community as well as of the forward models which are being developed or are already in use to exploit this type of observations, - assess the state-of-the-art on the use of interface observations both in retrievals and in coupled data assimilation systems and - understand the direction in which the scientific community is taking this important and complex problem. The workshop will take place at ECMWF, Reading, UK, on 19-22 November 2024. This is an in-person event and is by invitation only (if you have not been invited and wish to attend the event, please contact events@ecmwf.int). For further details, please check https://events.ecmwf.int/event/420/
AAPP update 8.13 has been released - June 18, 2024
This includes a MAIA4 update for compatibility with CSPP v4.0, routine updates to AMSU-A gross limits (as previously posted on the AAPP Forum), removal of ATOVPP checks on some failing channels and a DBNet station update. For details, see the Release History.
CADS update v3.2 released - February 27, 2024
The Cloud and Aerosol Detection Software has been updated to include support for the Chinese Hyperspectral Infrared Atmospheric Sounder-2, (HIRAS-2) which is flying on FY-3E and the Infra-Red Interferometer Spectrometer (IRIS) which flew on Nimbus-4 in the early 1970s. Also, support is provided for users to exploit the VIIRS clustering data which is now provided as part of the real-time CrIS stream.
NRT availability monitoring update – Dec 12, 2023 - December 18, 2023
The near-real-time data availability monitoring has been updated to provide coverage and timeliness plots based on DWD reception for the ATMS and CrIS instruments on NOAA-21. Please visit the NRT availability monitoring web pages to access the plots.
NWP SAF Satellite Data Assimilation Training Course - December 1, 2023
The next NWP SAF satellite data assimilation training course will take place at ECMWF, Reading, on 11-15 March 2024. The course provides a complete overview of the usage of meteorological satellite observations in operational numerical weather prediction. It includes a series of lectures and practical sessions covering a range of topics – from fundamental theoretical concepts through to detailed practical implementations in modern state-of-the-art data assimilation systems. Registration for this course closes on Monday, 18 December 2023. More information on https://events.ecmwf.int/event/375/
AAPP update 8.12 has been released - October 5, 2023
The update includes calibration updates for AMSU-A, DBNet station updates, addition of JPSS-2 and FY-3E to satid.txt and corrections to level 1d BUFR encoding for FY-3. Also some cosmetic changes due to internal migration from Subversion to Git. For details, see https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/software/aapp/documentation/release-history/.
RadSim v3.2 released - July 27, 2023
RadSim v3.2 has been released. This has been updated to work with RTTOV v13.2 and enables new RTTOV features including the MFASIS-NN (neural network based fast visible/near-IR cloud solver), the new polarisation treatment in RTTOV-SCATT, and the new SURFEM-Ocean microwave sea surface emissivity model. A full list of updates is available here .
NWP SAF SSMIS PP package retirement - June 15, 2023
Dear NWP SAF user,
The SSMIS Pre-processing Package (SSMIS PP) currently supplied and maintained by the NWP SAF processes data from the SSMIS instruments on board the US Defence Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). There are two aspects to the processing in SSMIS PP:
1. Handling the “LAS”, “UAS”, “IMG” and “ENV” BUFR files and detecting instrument anomalies, for DMSP F16 only. This aspect is now obsolete as the Unified Pre-processor (UPP – maintained by the US Naval Research Laboratory) routinely performs this step for all functioning SSMIS instruments.
2. Spatial averaging capability, applicable to UPP BUFR files, in order to reduce instrument noise.
The second point is now fully supported by the Microwave Imager Pre-processor (MWIPP) which supersedes that of the SSMIS PP. As such the NWP SAF SSMIS PP package will be retired, and support will no longer be offered upon the release of MWIPP v2 in April 2025.

For all additional information, please refer to SSMIS PP web pages https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/software/ssmis-pp/ and MWIPP web pages https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/software/mwipp/ or contact the team via the NWP SAF Helpdesk https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/help-desk/.

Kind regards,

The NWP SAF team.
NRT availability monitoring update - May 25, 2023
The near-real-time data availability monitoring has been updated to provide coverage and timeliness plots based on DWD reception for the geostationary radiances and AMVs from Himawari-9, GOES-18, MTEOSAT-10 as well as microwave radiances from MWTS-3 and MWHS-2 on the early morning orbit satellite FY-3E. Please visit the NRT availability monitoring web pages to access the plots https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/monitoring/nrt-availability/.
10th Analysis Report of the NWP SAF AMV Monitoring - May 24, 2023
The 10th Analysis Report of the NWP SAF AMV monitoring has been released and is available from the Analysis Reports section of the AMV monitoring webpages (https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/monitoring/winds-quality-evaluation/amv/amv-analysis-reports/). The analysis reports identify features from the monitoring statistics and document how these evolve over time. Where possible attempts are made to diagnose the cause of the difference between the AMVs and the model. This edition includes the use of the NWC SAF software package to look at two AMV case studies in the Tropical East African region, namely mesoscale convective systems and winds in the boundary layer.
[caption id="attachment_48634" align="alignnone" width="300"] Mesoscale convective systems 11:45 UTC on 24/08/2022. Red vectors are NWC SAF AMVs and blue vectors model guess.[/caption]
NWP SAF Satellite Data Assimilation Training Course - May 10, 2023
The next NWP SAF satellite data assimilation training course will take place at ECMWF, Reading, on 15-19 May 2023. The course provides a complete overview of the usage of meteorological satellite observations in operational numerical weather prediction (NWP). It includes a series of lectures and practical sessions covering a range of topics – from fundamental theoretical concepts through to detailed practical implementations in modern state-of-the-art data assimilation systems. Registration for this course is closed but lecture notes and course materials are available online. More information on https://events.ecmwf.int/event/334/
MWIPP v1.2 released - February 14, 2023
This is an update release of the Microwave Imager Pre-processor (MWIPP). The main purpose of the update is to support MWI/ICI test data issued by EUMETSAT in November 2022. Also, some corrections have been made to the AMSR-2 solar angles. For details, please see the Release Note on the MWIPP web page.
IRSPP v1.2 released - February 2, 2023
This is an update release of the InfraRed Sounder Pre-processor (IRSPP). Changes have been made to ensure compatibility with the set of MTG-IRS test data that was issued by EUMETSAT in November 2022. Also, some extra thinning options have been provided. For details, please see the Release Note on the IRSPP web page.
AAPP v8.11 released - February 2, 2023
AAPP update 8.11 has been released. The update includes a calibration update for Metop-B AMSU-A, support for NOAA-21 VIIRS to CrIS mapping and an option to use ECMWF forecast files in MAIA. For details, see https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/software/aapp/documentation/release-history/.
RTTOV v13.2 released - December 1, 2022
RTTOV v13.2 has been released. Updates from v13.1 include: new MFASIS neural network fast solver for visible/near-IR cloud radiances, alternative physically-based treatment of polarisation applicable to cross-track scanners and imagers in RTTOV-SCATT, new microwave sea surface emissivity model SURFEM-Ocean based on new community physical surface model PARMIO, new option to input per-channel effective skin temperatures, new option to account for molecular depolarisation in the Rayleigh phase function, new subroutines to compute solar zenith and azimuth angles and geostationary satellite zenith and azimuth angles, and various other updates and improvements. See the RTTOV pages for more information.
PenWP v4.0 released - October 14, 2022
Version 4.0 of the Pencil beam scatterometer Wind Processor has been released. As compared to previous release 2.2, PenWP version 4.0 can process data from the Haiyang-2B/C/D satellites. The new NSCAT-4DS Geophysical Model Function is included for improved consistency between Ku-band wind retrievals and C-band wind retrievals and buoy winds. Sea Surface Temperature dependent adjustments to the backscatter can be applied to reduce wind speed biases. Improved and New Quality Control flags have been introduced. The backscatter calibrations have been tuned for the generation of climate data records from QuikSCAT, RapidScat and Oceansat-2. See the PenWP pages (https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/software/scatterometer/penwp/) for more information. PenWP is a OSI SAF software.
IRSPP v1.1 released - October 12, 2022
This is an update release of the InfraRed Sounder Pre-processor (IRSPP). It is compatible with the set of MTG-IRS test data that was issued by EUMETSAT in July 2022. For details, please see the Release Note on the IRSPP web page.
AAPP v8.10 released - August 9, 2022
AAPP update 8.10 has been released. The update includes support for “version 2” IASI eigenvector files from EUMETSAT (due for implementation later in 2022) and support for FY-3E MWTS-3 and MWHS-2. There are also portability updates for gfortran10. For details, see https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/software/aapp/documentation/release-history/.
IASI local versus global processing monitoring at Lannion - March 21, 2022
A new website http://nwpsaf.meteo-spatiale.fr/ provides comparison between local and global processing of IASI data. This includes L1C mean spectral differences in brightness temperature, maps of cloud fraction differences from IASI local overpasses and statistics as well as cloud type retrievals from AVHRR.
Updates to DBNet station status page - March 16, 2022
The DBNet “Station Status” webpage now highlights any station data feeds with poor consistency with global data (as well as displaying reception status). Please refresh the cache if this page isn't updating as expected (by pressing CTRL + F5 on a Windows browser). Additional data consistency email alerts are also now being sent to regional centre coordinators and station operators to warn of any new consistency failures.
MWIPP v1.1 released - March 16, 2022
A new version of the Microwave Imager Pre-processor (MWIPP) has been released. The main change in version 1.1 is to support ingest and pre-processing of the MWI and ICI simulated data released by EUMETSAT in January 2021. For details, see the MWIPP web page.
Web Based Satellite Sounding Training Application - March 15, 2022
NWP SAF users can now experiment with RTTOV simulations and 1D-Var retrievals directly online with the new Web Based Satellite Sounding Training Application https://sounding.trainhub.eumetsat.int/. A selection of satellite instruments and input profiles from the NWP SAF profile database are used for the simulation and the retrieval tools. Users can modify the temperature, humidity, observation and background errors, noise, satellite zenith angle, or surface emissivity, and see how it impacts simulations and retrievals. The tool can display the results of the K-Model (Jacobian) as well as the result of the Direct Model (brightness temperatures and radiances), and the differences between the different runs.
Comparison of real and simulated satellite imagery - March 14, 2022
A new page provides an example application for RTTOV and RadSim where real and simulated satellite imagery are compared, The simulated imagery uses Met Office UM fields which are pre-processed before being passed to RTTOV. See the news feature, Simulating satellite imagery to verify NWP models for forecasting. A new version is being developed which uses RadSim. This will negate the need for pre-processing the model fields and therefore it may be possible to use data from other models.
IRSPP v1.0 released - March 9, 2022
The first version of a new deliverable, IRSPP, has been released. This is a package that will be used for processing data from the InfraRed Sounder on the MTG-S satellite series, due for first launch in 2024. This software release is intended to familiarise users with the package, which is compatible with simulated test data already made available by EUMETSAT. For more details, please see the IRSPP web page.
AAPP v8.9 and OPS-LRS v8.4 released - February 22, 2022
New versions of AAPP and OPS-LRS have been released: AAPP v8.9 and OPS-LRS v8.4. Changes include the option to use EUMESAT’s “kai” utility to check the quality of the incoming IASI L0 files. For details, see https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/software/aapp/documentation/release-history/.
RadSim v3.1 released - February 7, 2022
RadSim v3.1 has been released. The main new features are: support for RTTOV v13.1, option to compute geostationary satellite zenith and azimuth angles within RadSim, aerosol simulations using CAMS species based on ingest of aerosol fields from CAMS GRIB files, ingest of ICON cloud liquid and ice effective radius fields for use in VIS/IR cloud simulations, and optional writing/reading of footprint data to speed up certain kinds of footprint simulations. A full list of updates is available here.
New DBNet station status page - January 17, 2022
A new “Station Status” webpage displaying the reception status of all DBNet stations is now available from the > Monitoring > DBNet menu. Additionally data outage emails will be sent to regional centre coordinators and station operators to warn of missing DBNet data streams from 18/02.
NWP SAF 1D-Var v2.0 has been released - January 10, 2022
NWP SAF 1D-Var v2.0 has been released. Updates from v1.2 include support for RTTOV v13 and new capability for performing microwave liquid water retrievals using RTTOV-SCATT. This update also includes several bug fixes. See the 1D-Var pages for more information.
RTTOV v13.1 released - November 17, 2021
RTTOV v13.1 has been released. Updates from v13.0 include: basic UV simulation capability, MFASIS simulations extended to 1.6 micron channels and MFASIS treatment of mixed phase cloud improved, new subroutines to obtain emissivities/BRDFs from the RTTOV sea surface models without running full simulations, new option to output transmittances only from the forward model (more efficient if radiances are not required), overcast and secondary radiance outputs now calculated for aerosol simulations with the fast "Chou-scaling" IR solver, and various other minor technical improvements. See the RTTOV pages for more information.
CWDP v1.0 released - October 14, 2021
CWDP v1.0 has been released. This major release of the CFOSAT scatterometer wind data processor is the first version capable of processing real data from the French-Chinese CFOSAT satellite, the previous version was only tested with simulated data. On top of that, many improvements and bug fixes have been implemented in the software. See the CWDP pages (https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/software/scatterometer/cwdp/) for more information.
Training course: EUMETSAT/ECMWF NWP-SAF satellite data assimilation - September 15, 2021
This 5-day course provides a complete overview of the usage of meteorological satellite observations in operational numerical weather prediction (NWP). It includes a series of lectures and practical sessions covering a range of topics – from fundamental theoretical concepts through to detailed practical implementations in modern state-of-the-art data assimilation systems. The course will take place from 7 to 11 March 2022 at ECMWF headquarters in Reading (UK). There is no course fee for this course. Registration closes: 29 October 2021 For more information, please see: https://events.ecmwf.int/event/273/overview
Data Reception Routes - September 13, 2021
A new page, Data Reception Routes, summarises the routes via which data are received at DWD and MetOffice respectively. For some data types different reception routes are available and used at DWD and the MetOffice.
AAPP update 8.8 has been released. - August 24, 2021
AAPP update 8.8 has been released. This update includes portability fixes (for gcc 8), DBNet station updates and a bug fix for HIRS processing. For details, see https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/software/aapp/documentation/release-history/.
NRT availability monitoring update - August 23, 2021
The near-real-time data availability monitoring has been extended to provide coverage and timeliness plots based on DWD reception for the scatterometer on HY-2B and HY-2C (referred to as HSCAT) and also plots for geostationary ASR data streams additionally to the CSR data streams. Please visit the NRT availability monitoring web pages to access the plots.
MWRI DBNet monitoring page added - June 2, 2021
DBNet monitoring is now being performed for FY-3D MWRI, see monitoring page. In addition, an update has been made to the monitoring software. In future, this should eliminate the occasional cases seen of incorrect DBNet-global scanline matching, which has resulted in plots displaying a few scanlines with very large navigational differences (as well as sections of the overpass with large BTDs).
Radiance Simulator v3.0 released - June 2, 2021
Radiance Simulator v3.0 has been released. The main new features are: support for RTTOV v13.0, simulation of satellite footprints, ingest of fields from the HARMONIE model in GRIB format, ingest of fields from JMA in GRIB format (clear-sky simulations only), new script to generate obs data files for geostationary sensors, new optional outputs including surface Jacobians, and channel height assignments consistent with the NWP SAF CADS package. A full list of updates is available here.
Doppler wind LIDAR monthly monitoring available - May 21, 2021
Monthly monitoring plots for ESA’s Aeolus mission are now avaiable on the winds quality evaluation area. Please visit the doppler wind quality evaluation monitoring page for more information.
FSOi monitoring available - April 12, 2021
Meteo-France’s FSOi diagnostic (Forecast Sensitivity to the Observations derived impact) estimates the contribution of observations to the reduction of the forecast error and, therefore, its quality. Please visit the DAE Diagnostics webpage for further information.
AAPP v8.7 released. - February 4, 2021
AAPP update 8.7 has been released. This includes calibration updates, DBNet station updates and improvements for working with historical data. For details, please see the Release Note that is available at https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/software/aapp/documentation/release-history/
NRT availability monitoring for FY-3D and SEVIRI ASR data - February 2, 2021
The NRT coverage and timeliness monitoring pages have been updated to include MWTS-2, MWHS-2, MWRI instruments on FY-3D as well as all-sky radiances (ASR) from SEVIRI additionally to the already monitored clear-sky radiance (CSR) product. Please visit the NRT availability monitoring webpages for further information.
RTTOV v13.0 released - November 25, 2020
RTTOV v13.0 has been released. Updates from v12.3 include: new gas optical depth coefficients based on updated spectroscopy and new optical depth predictors; new "all trace gas" coefficients for various hyperspectral and non-hyperspectral VIS/IR sensors; for visible channels, a new parameterisation of Rayleigh extinction that may now optionally be excluded from simulations; option to treat Rayleigh multiple scattering in the DOM solver; updated VIS/IR cloud liquid water optical properties based on a newer refractive index dataset; new parameterisation for cloud liquid water effective diameter; optimisation of the MFASIS fast model and the DOM solver AD/K models; and RTTOV-SCATT updates to allow an arbitrary number of hydrometeor species, option to input per-hydrometeor cloud fraction profiles, new approximate treatment of polarised scattering by frozen hydrometeors, new options for generating MW scattering optical property tables, and an active MW sensor capability. See the RTTOV pages for more information.
NWP SAF workshop on the treatment of random and systematic errors in satellite data assimilation for NWP - November 2, 2020
The ECMWF/NWP SAF workshop on the treatment of random and systematic errors in satellite data assimilation for NWP is currently taking place (2-5 November 2020) virtually, with livestreamed talks. You can find information on the workshop here, including links to the full programme and livestream.
Timeliness plots and statistics for DBNet data - October 21, 2020
Timeliness plots and statistics for DBNet data are now generated daily and linked from the DBNet Monitoring “overview” page https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/monitoring/dbnet/. This is a preliminary service and further developments are planned in the coming months. It is expected that the information will be useful to both DBNet operators and NWP users.
Major upgrade on the Cloud and Aerosol Detection Software (CADS) - September 10, 2020
The new functionalities in CADS V3.1 include aerosol type classification, detection of excessive trace gas contamination in IR data, situation-dependent identification of IR channels that are sensitive to land surface emission, and support for the Russian-made Infrared Fourier Spectrometer -2 (IKFS-2). For more information please see the CADS page at https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/software/aerosol-and-cloud-detection/.
AAPP v8.6 released. - August 12, 2020
AAPP update 8.6 has been released. This contains a number of routine updates and bug fixes. For details, please see the Release Note that is available at https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/software/aapp/documentation/release-history/
AWDP v3.3 released - July 31, 2020
AWDP v3.3 has been released. This minor release of the ASCAT and ERS scatterometer wind data processor includes backscatter calibration tables for Metop-C ASCAT. AWDP is now also capable to read the new format version 13 ASCAT full resolution level 1b data containing enhanced land contamination information. The GRIB API module which is not maintained anymore by ECMWF is replaced by ecCodes. See the AWDP pages for more information.
Account registration and Help Desk - July 7, 2020
Account registration and Help Desk have been enabled.
NWP SAF is moving domain today - July 7, 2020
Please see https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/the-nwp-saf-is-moving-domain/. Whilst we are working on this no new user accounts may be created and the Help Desk will be inaccessible. We hope to have these functions restored by 14:00 UTC.
The NWP SAF is moving domain - July 2, 2020
On Tuesday the 7th of July the NWP SAF will be moving domain to https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/. The purpose of this change is to provide a consistent identity across all of the EUMETSAT SAFs. This change will take place between the hours of 09:00 BST – 15:00 BST (08:00 UTC – 14:00 UTC). During this period, new account registrations and the helpdesk will be disabled. After the domain switch is complete, https://nwpsaf.eu/ will redirect to https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/. We will make a further announcement when the change is complete and the helpdesk and account registrations have resumed operation. Thank you for your cooperation during this period.
NRT data availability montioring for Aeolus HLOS winds - June 10, 2020
The near-real-time data availability monitoring has been extended to provide coverage and timeliness plots based on DWD reception for the horizontal line-of-sight (HLOS) winds from the ALADIN Doppler Lidar on Aeolus (operationally disseminated since mid May). Please visit the NRT availability monitoring web pages to access the plots.
NWP SAF 1D-Var v1.2 has been released - June 5, 2020
The new version allows the retrieval of surface emissivity from a subset of IASI channels simultaneously with atmospheric profile information. This retrieval uses principal components of the emissivity and a background from an atlas . See the 1D-Var pages for more information.
NRT quality monitoring for Aeolus HLOS winds - May 14, 2020
On 12th May 2020 ESA announced the start of public distribution of Aeolus data and the NWP SAF is now providing NRT quality monitoring plots for Aeolus HLOS winds, monitored against NWP model fields from Météo France. Please visit the NRT quality monitoring webpages to view the plots.
Bounced emails - May 13, 2020
Recently emails were sent out to users of RTTOV and !D-Var. More than 170 of these emails bounced. Can ALL users, not just those who use RTTOV or !D-Var, please check the email address used for your account and update of required - https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/account/.
1D-Var User Survey – now closed - April 16, 2020
Thank you to all those who have already submitted responses to the NWP SAF 1D-Var user survey. If you haven’t been able to respond to the survey yet, there is still time to provide your input. In order to give everyone a chance to take part, the survey will remain open until Friday 24 April. This is a good opportunity to have your say about the future development of the 1D-Var code. As a reminder, the link to the survey is: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/DJSZ3QC
NWP SAF 1D-Var User Survey 2020 – now closed - March 25, 2020
In order to help us make decisions about future developments of the NWP SAF 1D-Var, we would be grateful if you could complete a short survey. There are 13 questions about your use of the code, and your views on priorities for future developments. Please fill in the survey before 15th April 2020. You can find more information about 1D-Var on the 1D-Var pages. Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/DJSZ3QC
Coronavirus (COVID-19) and NWP SAF operations - March 19, 2020
We wish all of our users well during these difficult times. The NWP SAF continues to operate with the team now teleworking. While we aim to provide continuity of service wherever possible, our responses to issues and user requests through the Helpdesk may not always be at our normal level of performance during this current exceptional situation.
Database restored - March 4, 2020
We have been experiencing issues with the site over late few weeks. We have managed to rebuild the database and hopefully the site is now functioning correctly. However, user registrations between 27th February and 11:30 today (4th March) have been lost. We apologise for this but ask that you recreate your accounts and if you have any problems email us at admin@nwp-saf.eumetsat.int
9th Analysis Report of the NWP SAF AMV Monitoring - March 3, 2020
The 9th Analysis Report of the NWP SAF AMV monitoring has been released and is available from the Analysis Reports section of the AMV monitoring webpages. The analysis reports identify features from the monitoring statistics and document how these evolve over time. Where possible attempts are made to diagnose the cause of the difference between the AMVs and the model. This edition marks the 9^th in the series and covers changes since the 14^th International Winds Workshop in 2018.
Report on Metop-C AMSU-A, MHS and IASI radiance data quality - February 19, 2020
A report has been released providing an initial quality assessment of the new AMSU-A, MHS and IASI instruments on Metop-C, from a NWP user perspective. The quality of the Metop-C AMSU-A, MHS and IASI observations has been assessed against simulated observations from background model fields, and compared against the same statistics for the currently assimilated Metop-A and -B AMSU-A, MHS and IASI data. These evaluations have been done for two model systems, from the Met Office and DWD. The report can be found on the Radiance data quality assessments page.
Help Desk not working - February 14, 2020
We are experiencing problems with the Help Desk software which is preventing access through the webpages. Exiting tickets still exist and, I believe, may still be updated by replying to emails. If you have any new enquiries that require more immediate attention please email admin@nwp-saf.eumetsat.int.
4th workshop on assimilating satellite cloud and precipitation observations for NWP - February 5, 2020
A joint NWP SAF/JCSDA workshop on assimilating cloud and precipitation observations for NWP is currently taking place at ECMWF (3-6 February 2020). You can find the full programme for the workshop here. The programme is being populated with links to the presentation slides and recordings as they happen.
AAPP v8.5 released - December 6, 2019
AAPP update 8.5 had been released. The changes include portability fixes and calibration updates. For details, please see the release note.
Workshop on the treatment of random and systematic errors in satellite data assimilation for NWP - December 4, 2019
An NWP SAF workshop on the treatment of random and systematic errors in satellite data assimilation for NWP will be held at ECMWF on 2-5 November 2020. A description of the workshop and link to further information can be found on the Training pages
Are you interested in Cloud and Aerosol Detection Software? - December 2, 2019
We are running a user survey to find out how you use, or would like to use, the NWP SAF Cloud and Aerosol Detection Software (CADS) and what features you would like to see developed for the next release. Please fill in the short survey before 31st December 2019 to tell us your requirements. You can find more information on CADS on the CADS pages and in this poster presentation. Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/JX2BF3L
Call for RTTOV v13 beta testers - November 25, 2019
The next version of RTTOV (version 13) will be released in September 2020. We are now inviting beta testers to get an early release of the code to test in their particular applications and provide feedback to the NWP SAF. The beta test version is due for release in late March 2020 and feedback will be needed by the end of May 2020. If you are interested in this opportunity please contact the NWP SAF helpdesk, or email us at admin@nwp-saf.eumetsat.int and we will give you instructions on how to download the beta release around 1^st April 2020.
Workshop on assimilating satellite cloud and precipitation observations for NWP - November 22, 2019
A joint NWP SAF/JCSDA workshop on assimilating cloud and precipitation observations for NWP will be held at ECMWF on 3-6 February 2020. A description of the workshop and link to further information can be found on the Training pages
Website issues related to potentially malicious registrations - October 28, 2019
We had a further 800+ "spam" registrations. To try to tackle this we have updated software on the site. Some of the software required a manual update and during this process some data was lost. Help Desk records and User Registrations created between 27^th and 1400UTC 28^th October may be missing as I had to restore from a backup of the database. Apologies for any inconvenience.
Potentially malicious registrations - October 23, 2019
We have had many registrations recently that have been potentially malicious. These have mainly fallen in to two groups: the emails addresses from each group being from the same domain. After investigating the associated websites it was decided that these accounts (over 400) should be deleted and email domain blacklisted. It is possible that valid accounts may have been deleted in error and, if so, we apologise. If this has happened please email us at admin@nwp-saf.eumetsat.int. It is not our intention to stop any genuine user from accessing the resources of this site.
NRT quality monitoring for FY-3D - October 22, 2019
Plots have been added to the NRT quality monitoring for radiances from MWTS-2, MWHS-2 and MWRI instruments on FY-3D. Please visit the NRT quality monitoring webpages to view the plots.
Radiance Simulator v2.2 released - September 26, 2019
Radiance Simulator v2.2 has been released. The main new features are: support for RTTOV v12.3, simulations for all solar-affected channels supported by RTTOV including use of the BRDF atlas and the MFASIS fast visible cloud parameterisation, clear-sky simulations using the Principal Components-based models PC-RTTOV and HTFRTC, ingest of DWD ICON model fields in GRIB format, ingest of ECMWF data in netCDF format, and the ability to modify the background CO2 profile used in the simulations.
Upgraded NRT quality monitoring - September 5, 2019
Near-real-time data quality monitoring pages have been upgraded and refreshed. A new monitoring system has been introduced at the Met Office and plots are now available for many new instruments and L2 products at multiple centres. Please visit the refreshed NRT quality monitoring webpage to access and explore the new monitoring plots.
DBNet monitoring for FY-3D - July 16, 2019
The NWP SAF DBNet monitoring has been extended to cover data from the MWHS-2 and MWTS-2 instruments on the Chinese FY-3D satellite. These data are part of EUMETSAT's EARS-VASS service. The FY-3D component is currently in trial dissemination mode, and the NWP SAF plots help to assure the quality of the data.
NRT data availability monitoring enhanced to include additional data types - June 25, 2019
The near-real time data availability (coverage and timeliness) monitoring has been extended to include the data from METOP-C (AMSU-A, MHS, IASI, ASCAT and AMVs) as well as clear sky radiances from GOES-16 and altimeter winds from Sentinel-3 A and B. ATMS and CrIS from NOAA-20 have also been added to the NRT data availability monitoring in recent months. Please visit the NRT availability monitoring webpages for further information.
NRT quality monitoring for MetOp-C instruments - May 23, 2019
Near-real-time data quality monitoring pages have been updated to include monitoring of MetOp-C AMSU-A, MHS and IASI, from ECMWF. Please visit the NRT quality monitoring webpage to access monitoring plots from these instruments.
Software Downloads - May 14, 2019
We have fixed the issue with software downloads.
NWP SAF Site Service Partially Resumed - May 14, 2019
Many parts of the NWP SAF website is back up and running but we are still working on the Software Downloads area which is not functioning. If you do come across any other missing links or strange behaviour please let us know via the helpdesk. Thank you for your patience during this period.
Site Outage - May 9, 2019
The NWP SAF website suffered a serious issue early on 8th May that resulted in an outage. Although the website is now available again, we are still working to restore the full content and functionality. We apologise for the inconvenience to users and thank you for your patience while we work to restore full service. Please continue to report issues through the helpdesk as usual. We will update you when everything is back to normal.
AAPP v8.4 released - April 29, 2019
AAPP update 8.4 has been released. The changes include: (i) updates for Metop-C and FY-3D; (ii) a tool to process CrIS from SDR to BUFR, including VIIRS cloud mask and the cluster analysis that was introduced in AAPP v8.3; (iii) corrections to BUFR encode/decode; (iv) portability updates. The software has been tested on both RHEL6 and RHEL7 (equivalent to CentOS6 and CentOS7).
CADS v2.4 released - March 27, 2019
Version 2.4 of the Cloud and Aerosol Detection Software (CADS) is released. The software update introduces two significant developments. Firstly, processing capability is added for Chinese hyperspectral infrared sounders (HIRAS and GIIRS). Secondly, flagging of contaminated data in the presence of aerosol is made channel-dependent. For details, please see the CADS web page.
RTTOV v12.3 released - March 25, 2019
RTTOV v12.3 has been released. Updates from v12.2 include: the new CAMEL IR emissivity atlas derived from multi-year (2000-2016) climatology, new options for treatment of Lambertian surfaces, an update to the MFASIS fast visible cloud parameterisation to account for variable water vapour in affected channels, an updated parameterisation of the Baran ice optical property database with greater spectral consistency from the visible to the far-IR, a new tool to enable generation of custom aerosol optical property files for visible/IR scattering simulations, a new subroutine that provides a simple way to pass scaled copies of the reference trace gas profiles into RTTOV, and numerous updates to extend the capabilities of the HTFRTC model within RTTOV. See the RTTOV pages for more information.
Report on NOAA-20 ATMS and CrIS data quality - March 19, 2019
A report has been released providing an initial quality assessment of the new ATMS and CrIS instruments on NOAA-20, from a NWP user perspective. The quality of the NOAA-20 ATMS and CrIS observations has been assessed against simulated observations from background model fields, and compared against the same statistics for the currently assimilated SNPP ATMS and CrIS data. These evaluations, along with some initial implementation trials, have been done for two model systems, from the Met Office and DWD. The report can be found on the Radiance data quality assessments page.
MWIPP v1.0 released - February 6, 2019
The initial version of the Microwave Imager Pre-Processor (MWIPP) has been released. This package processes microwave imager data from SSMIS, AMSR-2, GMI and MWRI, handling data in both hdf5 and BUFR formats. For details, please see the MWIPP web page.
Associate Scientist mission delivers improved infrared emissivity atlas for RTTOV - January 23, 2019
A recent associate scientist mission hosted by the University of Wisconsin has improved the global land surface infrared emissivity atlas for RTTOV v12.3 (the next release) which should enable more accurate simulations over land for infrared sounders. The current version of the RTTOV v12 CAMEL module is based on the NASA MEaSUREs CAMEL monthly mean land surface emissivity database for the single year of 2007. The new atlas is based on the full CAMEL climatology for 2000 to 2016. It provides a more sophisticated treatment of snow, and includes emissivity standard deviations computed from the climatology. More information can be found in the Final Report from the mission.
The NWP SAF is celebrating its 20th Anniversary! - November 28, 2018
The NWP SAF has reached an important milestone this week. Twenty years ago, on 25 November 1998, the agreement was signed for the creation of the SAF on Numerical Weather Prediction. It was led by the UK Met Office with ECMWF, Météo France and KNMI as partners. Following a period of development, the NWP SAF became operational in 2004, and has been providing satellite data processing software and monitoring services to users ever since. In the latest phase DWD joined the SAF, replacing KNMI which consolidated its NWP activities in the OSI SAF. The focus of the NWP SAF over the next few years will be on developments to enable the exploitation of the next generation of European polar orbiter and geostationary satellites by the NWP and wider research communities.
AAPP v8.3 released - November 19, 2018
AAPP update v8.3 has been released. The main changes are: (i) to support Metop-C (e.g. instrument calibration files), and (ii) to provide a VIIRS to CrIS clusters analysis, which was a request of the International TOVS Study Conference. For details, please see the Release Note.
Registration deadline extended for NWP SAF Satellite Data Assimilation Training Course 2019 - November 15, 2018
The registration deadline for the The NWP SAF Satellite Data Assimilation Training Course 2019 has been extended to 15^th December 2018.
NWP SAF Satellite Data Assimilation Training Course 2019 - November 8, 2018
The NWP SAF Satellite Data Assimilation Training Course 2019 runs from 18^th to 22^nd March 2019. Registration closes on 15^th November 2018.
NWP SAF mesoscale wind data assimilation workshop - October 31, 2018
An NWP SAF mesoscale wind data assimilation workshop was held on 18 September 2018 in Tallinn, Estonia. Please visit the training page for more information about the workshop and links to the presentations and workshop summary
NRT availability monitoring enhanced to include a new plot type: - September 4, 2018
An additional plot type has been added to the data reception timeliness monitoring pages. They show time series of the number of data arriving at DWD within certain time delay thresholds. This complements the information in the time averaged delay histograms (already provided) and allows to judge the reliability of the timeliness and stability of the received number of data. Please visit the NRT availability monitoring webpages for further information.
NRT data availability monitoring enhanced to include plots from Met Office: - August 22, 2018
NRT data availability monitoring plots have been enhanced with the addition of data coverage and timeliness plots from the Met Office. The Met Office plots use the same layout as those from DWD to enable straightforward comparisons and tracking of possible causes of differences in data reception speed or outages. Please visit the NRT availability monitoring webpages for further information.
NRT quality monitoring for NOAA-20 ATMS and CrIS - August 1, 2018
Near-real-time data quality monitoring pages have been updated to include monitoring of NOAA-20 ATMS and CrIS, from ECMWF. Please visit the NRT quality monitoring webpage to access monitoring plots from these new instruments.
NRT data availability monitoring enhanced to include additional data types: - July 20, 2018
The near-real time data availability (coverage and timeliness) monitoring has been extended in June 2018 to also include Scatterometer winds from OSCAT/ScatSat-1, radiances from MWRI/FY-3C, and AMVs from VIIRS/SUOMI-NPP.
DBNet monitoring for NOAA-20 ATMS and CrIS - July 16, 2018
The DBNet ATMS and CrIS monitoring pages have been extended to include data from NOAA-20 (in addition to Suomi-NPP). EUMETSAT are currently operating EARS-ATMS and EARS-CrIS services for NOAA-20 on a trial basis, and it is expected that more DBNet centres will follow over the coming months.
1D-Var v1.1.1 has been released - June 25, 2018
A new version (version 1.1.1) of the 1D-Var package has just been released and uploaded to the NWPSAF web site ( nwp-saf.eumetsat.int ). This release was necessary after a bug was found in the previous NWPSAF 1D-Var package (version 1.1) which affected microwave retrievals that included the liquid water path. In the 1DVar source code file NWPSAFMod_LiquidWater.f90 the order of the arguments to the function Layers_to_LWP was incorrect. The bug has now been fixed. Also, the sample test data for SSMIS_43L ( for RTTOV11 / RTTOV12 and ifort / gfortran) were affected by the bug and these have been corrected.
MWIPP and IRSPP - June 25, 2018
Preliminary information, including product specification documents, is available for two new NWP SAF software deliverables: the MWIPP (for microwave imager pre-processing) and the IRSPP (for the infrared sounder on MTG). The new pages can be accessed via the “software” tab from any NWP SAF web page. Further information will be added as the packages develop.
Radiance Simulator v2.1has been released - June 20, 2018
Radiance Simulator v2.1 has been released. The main new features are: support for RTTOV v12.2, temporal interpolation of model data to observation times, optional use of RTTOV parallel interfaces for multi-threaded simulations, more RTTOV options can be specified in the configuration file, output files now use netCDF-4 classic format with internal compression, and a new Python script which can be used to create configuration namelists and run RadSim from the command line.
CWDP v0.9 has been released - June 14, 2018
The first beta version of the CFOSAT Wind Data Processor (CWDP) version 0.9 has been released in May 2018. CFOSAT is the French-Chinese ocean observation satellite, to be launched in autumn 2018. This software version can process simulated CFOSAT input data, a simulator is included. After launch a new CWDP version capable of processing real data will be released. We stimulate users to provide feedback, which will help us to improve the software in future releases. Note, this software is developed and supported by the OSI SAF and distributed by the NWP SAF.
PenWP v2.2 has been released - June 14, 2018
PenWP v2.2 has been released in May 2018. This minor release of the Ku-band pencil beam scatterometer wind data processor includes an improved interface and handling of the 2DVAR Ambiguity Removal to streamline and simplify the processing. Moreover it is adapted to process OSCAT data from ScatSat-1(improved ISRO data version 1.1.3). Note, this software is developed and supported by the OSI SAF and distributed by the NWP SAF.

Pre-September 2015 News

Date
2015-06-15	AAPP update 7.10 has been released. The main change is the addition of VIIRS to CrIS mapping software. More information is available on the AAPP pages.
2015-06-09	The first public beta version of the Pencil beam Wind Processor (PenWP) is ready for release by the EUMETSAT Numerical Weather Prediction SAF. PenWP generates surface winds from backscatter data from the SeaWinds (on QuikSCAT or ADEOS-II), OSCAT (on Oceansat-2), HSCAT (on HY-2A) and RapidScat (on the International Space Station) scatterometer instruments. We invite you to become a beta user of the PenWP software package. If you are interested, please email.
2015-02-24	AAPP update 7.9 has been released. This includes a new version of the MAIA4 cloud mask for VIIRS. A new feature is that MAIA4 can accept model background fields from the GFS model - available via the internet. More information is available on the AAPP pages.
2015-02-19	Version 2.1 of the Aerosol and Cloud Detection Software has been released. As a new feature, the software makes use of collocated imager information to assist the cloud detection for IASI radiances. See the Cloud Detection Software pages for more information.
2014-12-08	AAPP update 7.8 has been released. This includes tools for converting AAPP binary files to HDF5 format, which was a request from the ITSC-19 conference Direct Broadcast Technical Subgroup. More information is available on the AAPP pages.
2014-11-17	Radiance Simulator 1.0 has been released. This new NWPSAF deliverable is designed to provide a flexible interface to NWP model fields in order to enable the generation of simulated observations for all instruments supported by RTTOV in a straightforward way. The Radiance Simulator is designed to work specifically with datasets from NWP models, either analysis fields or short-range forecasts.
2014-11-17	RTM - A new ECMWF diverse profiles dataset has been released. The profiles are specified on a 137-level grid extending from surface up to 0.01 hPa. The database is divided in to five subsets focussing on diverse sampling of temperature, specific humidity, ozone mixing ratio, cloud condensates and precipitation. The dataset is available on the RT modelling pages.
2014-11-06	Scatterometry - Two new technical reports have been released pertaining to the 'Estimation of background error correlation function' and 'The orientation of SeaWinds wind vector cells'.
2014-10-02	SDP version 2.2 has been released. Compared to the previous version 2.1, the new version includes improvements in the Quality Control and improvement of the wind retrieval at low wind speeds. It uses the NSCAT-4 Geophysical Model Function for reduced wind speed bias at high wind speeds. SDP v2.2 is being used to create the climate data record for QuikSCAT in the OSI SAF. See the scatterometer pages for more information.
2014-08-27	AAPP update 7.7 has been released. This includes tools for working with sensor data record files from the new MWTS2 and MWHS2 instruments on Feng-Yun 3C. More information is available on the AAPP pages.
2014-08-26	NWPSAF 1D-Var v1.0 has been released. This new version contains the merged capabilities of the now retired Met Office, SSMIS and ECMWF 1D-Var schemes. There is also now a graphical user interface (GUI) which produces plots of retrieval results and makes the installation and running of the software more straightforward. Further details can be found on the NWPSAF 1D-Var page
2014-06-17	RTTOV v11.2 has been publicly released. Changes from the previous release v11.1 include a GUI which allows RTTOV direct and K models to be run and results to be visualised, a new MW sea surface emissivity option (FASTEM-6) which has a much improved azimuthal dependence over previous versions, an update to the Baran ice particle optical property parameterisation for IR cloudy simulations, new options for the internal interpolator which eliminate artificial features in Jacobians due to the interpolation scheme, optimisation of PC-RTTOV, IR cloud and aerosol simulations and solar sea surface reflectance calculations as well as other enhancements and bug-fixes. See the RTTOV pages for more information.
2014-06-02	The NWP SAF website has moved! Please update your bookmarks. The new site is located at http://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int. If you require assistance or have any suggestions for the new site, please contact the helpdesk.
2014-02-24	AAPP update 7.6 has been released. This includes updates to the "MAIA" cloud mask and improved tools for working with NOAA/CLASS files. More information is available on the AAPP pages.
2014-02-11	AWDP v2.3 was publicly released on 11th February 2014. This version can handle the latest Metop-A ASCAT calibration (level 1 version 9.02). More information is available on the Scatterometer web pages.
2013-10-07	A technical report comparing Atmospheric Motion Vectors (AMVs) over the Indian Ocean region has been published on the AMV investigations webpage.
2013-09-13	OPS-LRS version 7-0 has been released. This is the latest version of the IASI level 1 processor released by CNES. It provides compatibility with the latest IASI instrument configuration files, and fixes an occasional processing failure due to array bounds overflow. More information is available on the AAPP pages.
2013-07-31	Met Office 1D-Var v3.5 has been released. This new version adds support for the RTTOV v11 radiative transfer model. Further details can be found on the Met Office 1D-Var page.
2013-07-16	AAPP update 7.5 has been released. The main change is the addition of the "MAIA v4" package from Météo-France, to generate a cloud mask for VIIRS. More information is available on the AAPP pages.
2013-07-09	AWDP v2.2 was publicly released on 9th July 2013. This version has full functionality to handle Metop-B data, including the latest calibration tables. Moreover it is able to handle the new format of the ASCAT full resolution (so-called SZF) files. More information is available on the Scatterometer web pages.
2013-06-03	RTTOV v11.1 has been publicly released. Changes from the previous release v10.2 include the capability to simulate visible and near-infrared channels, a global land surface bi-directional reflectance atlas, the option to apply a bias correction for non-local thermodynamic equilibrium effects, two new aerosol particle types (for volcanic ash and Asian dust), a new ice cloud parameterisation scheme for cloudy infrared simulations, the option to specify optical properties explicitly for infrared scattering calculations, PC calculations for both clear and cloudy profiles over sea surfaces, the ability to read/write coefficient files in HDF5 format, and code optimisation, in particular for the K model and the IR emissivity atlas. See the RTTOV pages for more information.
2013-04-09	The OSCAT Wind Data Processor (OWDP) version 1.1 has been released. This is the first public release of the wind data processor for the OSCAT instrument onboard Oceansat-2. OWDP generates surface winds from OSCAT Normalized Radar Cross Section data. Updated technical reports on NWP SAF scatterometer software have also been added to the website. More information is available on the Scatterometer web pages.
2012-12-14	AAPP update 7.4 has been released. The release includes Metop-B updates, improvements to the tools for handling Multi Mission Administration Messages and refinements to the processing of NPP. More information is available on the AAPP pages.
2012-10-10	AAPP update 7.3 has been released. The release includes updated Metop-B data files, modifications to the handling of IASI principal components, BUFR encode/decode for the microwave instruments on FY-3A/B and modifications to the processing of NPP data. More information is available on the AAPP pages.
2012-07-27	AAPP update 7.2 and OPS-LRS version V6-0+p12 have been released. The AAPP update includes modifications to the processing of ATMS on Suomi-NPP and handling of the new EUMETSAT Multi-Mussion Administration Messages (MMAM). The new version of OPS-LRS incorporates the latest updates from CNES. More information is available on the AAPP pages.
2012-05-11	Met Office 1D-Var v3.4 has been released. This new version adds support for the RTTOV v10 radiative transfer model and the addition of SSMIS liquid water retrieval capability. Further details can be found on the Met Office 1D-Var page.
2012-04-18	New monitoring pages showing plots of SSMIS and AIRS radiances vs Met Office global NWP are now available. Links to additional external monitoring sites have also been added to the monitoring links webpage.
2012-03-02	EUMETSAT has extended the duration of support services to licensees of NWP SAF software. For further details see the Software Request Forms page.
2012-03-02	AAPP version 7.1 has been released. The new version introduces capability to process Sensor Data Record (SDR) data from the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) and Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) on the Suomi NPP satellite, as well as bug fixes and other enhancements. New users, and existing users of AAPP v6, can access the package by registering here. More information can be found on the AAPP pages.
2012-03-01	Start of CDOP-2, the second Continuous Development and Operations Phase. The NWP SAF is led by the Met Office, with partners ECMWF, KNMI and Météo-France.
2012-02-22	A new release of the ECMWF diverse profile database has been made available to users. The new database makes use of concentration data of carbon dioxide, methane and five different types of aerosols, as retrieved from short-range forecasts of the Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate (MACC) project. Additionally, temperature, specific humidity and ozone data are sampled. In total of 40,000 vertical profiles, divided in ten subsets, are provided in a vertical grid of 60 levels. For further details see the RTTOV web page.
2012-01-26	Technical reports on Scatterometer Data Assimilation and Scatterometer Wind Bias Correction have been published on the scatterometer pages to assist users of the scatterometer wind processing software and its products.
2012-01-18	RTTOV update v10.2 has been released. The update fixes a number of bugs and includes improvements to the new FASTEM-4 microwave sea surface emissivity model, the ability to specify ice particle effective diameter explicitly in the input profile for infrared cloudy simulations, and a number of code optimisations. More information is available via the RTTOV v10 web page.
2011-12-02	Version 1.3 of the ECMWF Cloud/Aerosol Detection Software has been released. The update introduces capability to process data from the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS), onboard the NPP satellite. Additionally, a couple of bugs are fixed and the implementation of the cross-band option is modified towards a more conservative approach. More information can be found on the IR aerosol and cloud detection software webpage.
2011-08-03	AWDP version 2.1 has been released. The backscatter correction used in the wind processing has been adapted to the new level 1 processor version 7.4. Moreover, some bugs and other issues have been solved. See the scatterometer pages for more information.
2011-06-16	AAPP update v6.15 has been released. The update includes calibration updates and bug fixes. For more information, see the AAPP forum announcement and the AAPP web pages.
2011-02-28	A workshop on scatterometer data assimilation will be organized by the NWP SAF on 14 April 2011 at EUMETSAT premises in Darmstadt. The goal of the workshop is to provide NWP data assimilation colleagues with insight into the main relevant characteristics of the scatterometer data, provide guidance for data assimilation and collect NWP user requirements for the scatterometer wind observation operator.
2011-02-18	NWP SAF forums have been launched for the RTTOV and AAPP software packages, enabling online discussions between users and developers.
2011-01-20	RTTOV v10 has been publicly released. Changes from the previous release v9.3 include addition of land surface emissivity atlases for IR and MW, capability to simulate Principal Components for AIRS and IASI, update of FASTEM ocean emissivity model, addition of Zeeman effect for SSMIS and AMSU-A high peaking channels and improved optical depth calculations (more levels and up to date spectroscopic data) for IR and MW sensors. See the RTTOV pages for more information.
2010-12-01	AWDP v2.0 has been publicly released. Changes from the previous release v1.1 include validation for 12.5-km winds and a coastal wind retrieval capability. The ECMWF GRIB API library is used now instead of GRIBEX. See the scatterometer pages for more information.
2010-11-25	SSMIS_PP v1.1 has been released. This release includes a spatial averaging module for use with SSMIS data from the "Unified Pre-Processor" data stream. See the SSMIS_PP pages for further information.
2010-11-24	SDP v2.1 has been publicly released. The main difference from the previous version is that the OSI SAF sea ice model and screening are now operational. See the scatterometer pages for more information.
2010-11-17	The NWP SAF scatterometer monitoring site has been updated to include an archive of monthly monitoring plots. The new archive hosts a variety of monitoring data for ASCAT, ERS-2 and WindSat with an easy-to-use interface for switching between different months.
2010-11-11	AAPP update v6.14 has been released. The update includes modifications to the processing of Principal Component compressed IASI data, following the start of a trial dissemination via EUMETCast. Click here for further details of AAPP.
2010-06-17	AAPP update v6.13 has been released. The update includes routine calibration updates for NOAA-19 and MetOp, portability fixes and tools to work with the AVHRR cloud mask and with archived level 1c ATOVS data. Also, an updated version of the OPS-LRS User Manual is available on the AAPP web page. Click here for further details of AAPP.
2010-05-11	The scatterometer monitoring pages have undergone a significant update. Dedicated monitoring pages are now available for WindSat and ERS-2, to go alongside the existing ASCAT page. A whole new suite of plots are also being produced for the Met Office global and NAE (North Atlantic European) regional models including map, vector, density and wind vector cell statistics plots.
2010-03-26	The public parts of the NWP SAF website are no longer password-protected, and can be freely viewed without the need for registration.
2010-02-25	AAPP update v6.12 has been released, together with OPS-LRS version 5-0+p12. The package includes the ability to generate and process files from the forthcoming EARS-IASI service, support for new IASI BUFR files to be introduced by EUMETSAT and a new version of the AVHRR cloud mask, MAIA3. Click here for further details of AAPP.
2010-02-18	An RTTOV applications page has been added to the website, including examples of near-real-time monitoring and simulated imagery. Users are invited to provide their own links or content demonstrating the many different applications of RTTOV.
2010-01-28	A solution has now been found to the recent problems in accessing the NWP SAF website. If you are still experiencing difficulties accessing the site by the old routes, please go instead to http://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/, using the same user ID and password as before. Please update any bookmarks you have accordingly, as well as any links you have on your own websites. If you are still unable to access the site, please contact the NWP SAF Helpdesk by email at nwpsaf@metoffice.gov.uk.
2010-01-12	AWDP software version 1.1 has been released. AWDP is used for ASCAT scatterometer wind data-processing. Version 1.1 contains a few bug fixes, and now writes the output in BUFR Edition 4 format rather than BUFR Edition 3. Moreover, the output now contains up to four wind solutions rather than two. This occasionally results in a more consistent wind field. Further details of AWDP are available here.
2009-12-29	ECMWF Aerosol and Cloud Detection Package v1.2 has been released. The update provides increased flexibility to various atmospheric situations, as well as improved capability to detect thin cirrus clouds. Further details of the Aerosol and Cloud Detection Package are available here.
2009-11-23	The Quikscat monitoring page has been discontinued as Quikscat data are no longer available following a mechanical failure on the satellite. This NASA webpage gives details of the failure.
2009-11-09	Links to JMA monitoring pages for geostationary radiances, polar orbiter radiances and atmospheric motion vections have been added to the monitoring section of the website.
2009-11-09	Met Office 1D-Var v3.3 has been released. This new version adds support for the RTTOV v9 radiative transfer model. Further details can be found on the Met Office 1D-Var page.
2009-10-23	AAPP update v6.11 has been released. This contains updates to allow for the current performance characteristics of the AMSU, MHS and HIRS instruments. Click here for further details of AAPP.
2009-10-12	The ECMWF experimental Auto-alert facility is now available via the monitoring section.
2009-06-23	AAPP update v6.10 has been released. This contains updated antenna pattern data for NOAA-19 MHS, following recent analysis by EUMETSAT of the post-launch radiometric data and the pre-launch antenna pattern characterisation. Further details about AAPP can be found here.
2009-04-28	AAPP update v6.9 has been released. The main purpose is to provide updated NOAA-19 data files, ready for when the satellite is declared operational. Further details on AAPP are here.
2009-02-10	NOAA-19 has been successfully launched, and initial results suggest that AVHRR is performing normally (for details of AAPP software support for NOAA-19, see the following news item). NOAA-19 is the last of NOAA's current series of polar-orbiting environmental satellites
2009-01-27	AAPP update v6.8 has been released. The update includes support for NOAA-19, to be launched in February. Further details on AAPP are here.
2009-01-23	Version 2 of the SeaWinds Data Processor (SDP) has been released. SDP generates surface winds from data obtained by the SeaWinds scatterometer on board QuikSCAT. Like the AWDP software recently released, SDP performs ambiguity removal with the 2-Dimensional Variational Ambiguity Removal (2DVAR) method and supports the Multiple Solution Scheme (MSS). SDP needs NWP model winds as a first guess for the Ambiguity Removal step. Further details of SDP and AWDP are available here.
2009-01-13	The ASCAT Wind Data Processor (AWDP) has been released. This software uses data from the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) and European Remote Sensing satellite (ERS) scatterometer instruments to calculate surface winds, performing ambiguity removal with the 2-Dimensional Variational Ambiguity Removal (2DVAR) method and supporting the Multiple Solution Scheme (MSS). AWDP needs NWP model winds as a first guess for the Ambiguity Removal step. Further details of AWDP are available here.
2008-11-11	From 19th November users have had to register in order to view pages on the NWP SAF website. The password emailed to users after registration can be re-used for future visits. These changes were required because of new rules for webpages on our host server.
2008-09-20	A new investigations section has been added to the AMV monitoring pages in response to user feedback. The new investigations section is available here.
2008-07-04	The NWP SAF IASI PCA-based compression package has been released. This deliverable provides a relatively simple, stand-alone piece of code that may be used both to calculate the PCs required and to apply them to new spectra to perform noise filtering, so that a reduced set of channels can be used for data assimilation. Further details are available here.
2008-07-01	AAPP update 6.7 has been released. This includes calibration parameters updates for AMSU-B, AMSU-A and MHS, a modification to the BUFR encoding utility and improved handling of orbital elements during spacecraft manoeuvers. Further details on AAPP are here.
2008-03-17	A new version of the fast radiative transfer model RTTOV has been released and is now available as RTTOV v9. For further information, including how to obtain RTTOV v9, click here.
2008-02-19	The NWP SAF scatterometer monitoring report has been updated to include ASCAT diagnostics and WINDSAT near real time monitoring graphics. The updated pages are available here.
2007-11-09	The NWP SAF EARS monitoring report has been extended to cover ATOVS data from the WMO Regional ATOVS Retransmission Service (RARS) networks. Further information is available here.
2007-08-02	The NWP SAF ECMWF Aerosol and Cloud Detection Package for high resolution infrared slounders has been released. The software is based on a pattern recognition technique and is designed to be used as a plug-in to most NWP systems. Further details are available here.
2007-06-11	A new web resource for "Sources of Emissivity Data for RTTOV Users" has been created and is now available here. This catalogue provides information and links for emissivity atlases and models for the infrared and microwave, suitable for input to RTTOV.
2007-06-07	A new release of the ECMWF diverse profiles dataset has been released. It is now on 91 levels and includes temperature, water vapour, ozone, cloud water/ice and precipitation as variables which are sampled. The new dataset can be accessed here.
2007-05-22	AAPP upgrade 6.4 has been released, together with a new version of the IASI Level 1 processor OPS-LRS. These two updates allow users to process direct readout IASI data from MetOp-A.
2007-03-01	Start of CDOP-1, the first Continuous Development and Operations Phase. The NWP SAF is led by the Met Office, with partners ECMWF, KNMI and Météo-France.
2006-10-12	Version 6 of AAPP (ATOVS and AVHRR Pre-Processing Package) has been released. This latest version includes METOP capability (including IASI), BUFR support and an updated build system. For further information, including how to obtain AAPP-6, click here.
2006-07-27	The NWP SAF Regional and Global ATOVS intercomparison page has changed. Level 1d EARS data will now be generated from level 1c files received from EUMETSAT, instead of from level 1a files from the EARS stations. Local level 1d files generated from HRPT data received direct at the Met Office remain unchanged, as do the global NESDIS data which are generated from level 1b.
2006-06-09	The May 2006 edition of EUMETSAT's newsletter "IMAGE" features a double-page spread describing the NWP SAF. To see the article (PDF) click here. To see IMAGE in full, visit http://www.eumetsat.int/Home/Main/AboutEUMETSAT/Publications/IMAGENewsletter/?l=en.
2006-04-12	The first version of the SeaWinds Data Processor (SDP) has been released. For further information, including how to obtain SDP, click here.
2005-07-18	Version 5 of AAPP (ATOVS and AVHRR Pre-Processing Package) has been released.This latest version includes NOAA-N capability, navigation enhancements, updated calibration algorithms, various bug fixes and updated documentation. For further information, including how to obtain AAPP-5, click here.
2005-04-14	Interactive request forms for NWP SAF software deliverables have been added to the website. These simplify the process of requesting and obtaining NWP SAF software.
2005-01-27	The NWP SAF EARS (EUMETSAT ATOVS Retransmission Service) monitoring report is now operational.
2005-01-27	Bias-correction Workshop: In response to requests from many users for guidance on bias-correction, the NWP-SAF plans to hold a workshop on bias estimation and correction in data assimilation, hosted by ECMWF, from 8 to 11 November 2005. Further information is available on the ECMWF web site.
2004-11-10	Version 2 of the ECMWF 1D-Var package, a generalised minimisation code applicable to a wide range of inversion problems for satellite data, has been released. Note that, to achieve generality, the code is not interfaced to any particular source of satellite data. The user must define a control variable and interface an appropriate radiative transfer model, such as RTTOV (also available from the NWP SAF). For further information, including how to obtain the ECMWF 1D-Var, click here.
2004-11-10	Version 8 of RTTOV, the fast radiative transfer model for infrared and microwave satellite sensors, has been released. The new version includes an improved microwave sea surface emissivity model, FASTEM-3, improved simulations of cloudy infrared radiances, and additional modules to allow simulations of microwave scattering from hydrometeors. For further information, including how to obtain RTTOV v8, click here. To help you decide if you need to upgrade to RTTOV v8 see this page .
2004-11-10	Version 3 of the Met Office 1D-Var package, a stand-alone system for doing 1D-Var retrievals from nadir-sounding satellite sensors, has been released. The new version includes a cloudy retrieval option and updated documentation. For further information, including how to obtain the Met Office 1D-Var, click here. (Please note that, for most applications, users will also need to obtain the RTTOV radiative transfer model.)
2004-03-01	Central helpdesk established to handle all suggestions, enquiries and bug reports to the NWP SAF. These should be sent using the interactive Feedback form.
2003-11-26	The Initial Operational Phase of the NWP SAF, to run from March 2004 to February 2007 was approved by EUMETSAT Council at its 54th meeting.
2003-05-21	The NWP SAF SSMI monitoring report is now operational.
2003-02-10	The NWP SAF integrated scatterometer monitoring report is now live.
2002-10-11	Updated versions of the Software and Science parts of the AAPP user guide, for AAPP v3, available via the AAPP/ATOVS page.
2001-07-23	The NWP SAF's 2nd user-requirements survey is now underway.
2000-10-13	SSM/I 1DVAR has been released and is currently being distributed to users by the NWP SAF Consortium under a beta-testing licence. Prospective users should contact Dr Dave Jones for details and a licence form. Users should note that the code requires RTTOV v6 which exists under a separate licence (see below). Updated Coefficients files for RTTOV v5 and RTTOV v6 are now available.
2000-08-08	The first User Requirements survey of the NWP SAF has been conducted. Implications for the Workplan of the SAF are being considered. Non-controversial items are currently being implemented. Version 2 of AAPP has been developed by the NWP SAF, integrated by EUMETSAT, and is being distributed to users by EUMETSAT. RTTOV v6 has been released and is currently being distributed to users by the NWP SAF Consortium under a beta-testing licence. Prospective users should contact Dr Roger Saunders for details and a licence form.
2000-05-31	The NWP SAF successfully underwent its Requirements Assessment and Planning Review (RAPR) in May 2000. Recommendations of the RAPR were considered by the NWP SAF Steering Group and agreed actions are being implemented. The Steering Group has approved three proposals under the SAF Visiting Scientist scheme.