Quality Control of Meteorological Observations at Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center.

Abstract : Meteorological observations are subjected to extensive objective quality control (QC) before they are stored in the operational atmospheric data base at Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC, Monterey, CA). This QC identifies erroneous observations that could adversely affect the quality of operational products produced by the Navy's global and regional atmospheric prediction models and stratospheric analysis. These QC procedures have recently been substantially modified and improved. This report describes the QC system currently in use operationally with the Navy Operational Global/Regional Atmospheric Prediction Systems (NOGAPS/NORAPS) on the FNMOC supercomputers. A primary change was the inclusion of the Complex OC developed at the National Meteorological Center; other QC procedures were updated to reflect those in use at the European Center for Medium range Weather Forecasts. (AN)