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Of course, we
all know the different types of synoptic data available to us.
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Many of them
have been in use for decades, and continue to prove there value even with all
the improvements we’ve made.
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1. Land synoptic
data can be extremely useful, especially over island stations where data is
otherwise sparse.
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2. Ship synoptic
data, while sometimes less reliable and less accurate then land synoptic
data, gives us information in places that are otherwise without any hard data
at all. Over broad ocean areas, ship
data is often the only products available to us.
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3. Of course we also have many buoys
positioned in areas of sparse data to fill the gaps in data areas.
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4. Over land areas we have the additional
information provided by Rawinsonde reports.
We also still get dropsonde data, but not on a regularly scheduled
basis.
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5. Satellite derived winds, although less
accurate than surface observations continue to improve with new technologies.
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6. Scatterometer data is a fantastic new
tool. When a scat pass is right over
your system you get a very accurate position and intensity estimate.
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