Japan's progress can improve weather forecasts for saving lives

The project is the first time that “infrared radiation data” has been used to model weather patterns in areas under cloud coverage that would usually hinder if they were added.

The result is the unification of data collected by Japan's Himaraari-8 weather satellite with a program directed to a super computer at the country's Riken scientific institute, reports The Guardian”, broadcast Periscopi.

“Himawari-8 is sending out large types of data that were not available before”, said Takemas Miyoshi, team leader in Riken.

We are now able to build a system that uses this data to improve the way we predict the weather”.

The modeling system allows meteorologists to assess the height of the cloudtop, vital information for the evaluation of other factors, including wind, temperature, and volume of moisture in the atmosphere.

The team, whose research is being published in Mot's monthly magazine in the geophysic research journal weather, said the programme could help improve forecasts in extreme weather./Periscopi/