GOES sounding improvement and applications to severe storm nowcasting

An improved clear‐sky physical retrieval algorithm for atmospheric temperature and moisture is applied to the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite‐12 (GOES‐12) Sounder. A comparison with the microwave radiometer (MWR) measured total precipitable water (TPW) at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site from June 2003 to May 2005 shows that the TPW retrievals are improved by 0.4 mm over the legacy GOES Sounder TPW product. The Lifted Index (LI) derived product imagery (DPI) from the improved soundings better depicts the pre‐convective environment surrounding a tornadic supercell at Eagle Pass, Texas on 24 April 2007. Another severe storm case from 13 April 2006 demonstrates that the improved physical algorithm successfully detects low‐level moisture. Both cases show the new retrievals along with the derived products will help the forecasters with short‐term severe storm nowcasting.