A GIS approach to ingest Meteosat Second Generation data into the Local Analysis and Prediction System

The Local Analysis and Prediction System (LAPS) is modified to ingest Meteosat Second Generation (MSG)data for cloud analysis. A first study is conducted to test the actual performance of the weather analysissoftware after new satellite bands are introduced. Results show that the system provides high qualitycloud products such as cloud mask, cloud top height and cloudiness. A comparison with products fromEUMETSAT's Nowcasting SAF shows a general underestimation of the LAPS product although the resultsare not conclusive. The study shows the potential of MSG data in refining the mesoscale analysesproduced by LAPS. Moreover the software tools, based on open source codes for geolocation andgeographical information systems, written for the transformation of MSG data into input files for LAPShave demonstrated a great flexibility and ease of use. The study opens up an avenue for successivevalidation and refinement of the analyses together with their improved implementation for operationalnowcasting and very short range forecasting applications.