Japan's new breakthrough forecast could improve weather warnings

According to the researchers, a new project that exploits data from Japanese satellites could improve weather forecasts and allow officials to issue rescue warnings before disasters.

This project is the first time that "infrared radiation brightness data" is used to simulate weather patterns in dense cloud cover areas - elements that often hinder modeling. Traditional forecast.

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This breakthrough was the result of the data gathered by Japan's weather satellite Himawari-8 with a supercomputing program at the country's Riken Science Institute.

"Himawari-8 is sending large amounts of data never before , " said Takemasa Miyoshi, Riken's research leader. " Now we can build a system that uses those data to improve the weather forecast."

The modeling system allows meteorologists to measure the height of clouds, important information to estimate other factors including wind, temperature, and volume of moisture in the atmosphere.

Their research is published in the monthly Weather Review magazine and the Journal of Geofheticical Research - Atmosphere.

In events like storms, traditional underground and aerial weather monitors used by forecasts may not be reliable or accessible.

But the system developed by Riken researchers will continue to work because it uses data obtained from space.

Himawari-8 transmits new data every 10 minutes, providing up-to-date information that allows local officials to start releasing warnings.

"The power of this system is that it gives you accurate weather forecasts when disasters occur, and it is constantly updated ," Miyoshi said.

The Japanese weather agency gave a cautious look, saying that more tests are needed to prove the accuracy and potential weaknesses of this forecasting model before being put into use.

Riken's group admitted that they have not been able to quantify their system better than traditional forecasting methods.

Kozo Okamoto, a scientist from the weather agency Kozo Okamoto, who participated in the Riken research project, said, "The Meteorological Agency is conducting its own research and we are also considering projects. project of other research groups ".

"It takes a long time to verify whether a new technology can be used really," he told AFP .

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