Operational Use of Leo/Geo Winds by the National Center for Atmospheric Research
Beginning in August 2011, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, began using the CIMMS-generated Leo/Geo high latitude winds product in their operational Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) model.
The Leo/Geo winds product is an experimental product in which cloud features are tracked at high latitudes from images composed of geostationary and polar orbiting satellite data. The goal is to fill the gaps in satellite-derived winds coverage that lie in the 60 to 70 degree (north and south) latitude bands.
This product has been used routinely in the US Navy's NRL Atmospheric Variational Data Assimilation System Accelerated Representer (NAVDAS-AR) since November 2010.