What is SatManu and its purpose?
"SatManu" is the abbreviation for "Manual of Synoptic Satellite Meteorology". It is a manual for detecting and diagnosing cloud and water vapor features and patterns typical of them in satellite images. However, the diagnosis extends beyond satellite images. The basic purpose of this manual is combining satellite imagery with NWP parameters, weather observations and other useful data like radar measurements and satellite products.
The target audience are:
- students who are learning to interpret satellite images and how to combine them with other meteorological material
- forecasters who need a quick and comprehensive overview about actual weather situations during their work shift. For this a synthesis from all the different meteorological input material has to be made in a fairly short time.
Combining various meteorological material such as images, numerical model outputs and different kinds of observations requires an appropriate method. This is the "Conceptual Model Approach" in SatManu.
In contrast to numerical models, conceptual models (CMs) look for typical features, patterns and structures as they are shown in satellite images, the fields of computed numerical parameters, as well as in conventional surface and upper air observations.
The next two chapters cover CMs, the Conceptual Model Approach and the structure and presentation of CMs in SatManu (Link to "Structure and Presentation of CMs in SatManu") in more detail.