scholarly journals Mesoscale Model Evaluation Testbed (MMET): A Resource for Transitioning NWP Innovations from Research to Operations (R2O)

2016 ◽  
Vol 97 (11) ◽  
pp. 2135-2147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie K. Wolff ◽  
Michelle Harrold ◽  
Tracy Hertneky ◽  
Eric Aligo ◽  
Jacob R. Carley ◽  
...  

Abstract A wide range of numerical weather prediction (NWP) innovations are under development in the research community that have the potential to positively impact operational models. The Developmental Testbed Center (DTC) helps facilitate the transition of these innovations from research to operations (R2O). With the large number of innovations available in the research community, it is critical to clearly define a testing protocol to streamline the R2O process. The DTC has defined such a process that relies on shared responsibilities of the researchers, the DTC, and operational centers to test promising new NWP advancements. As part of the first stage of this process, the DTC instituted the mesoscale model evaluation testbed (MMET), which established a common testing framework to assist the research community in demonstrating the merits of developments. The ability to compare performance across innovations for critical cases provides a mechanism for selecting the most promising capabilities for further testing. If the researcher demonstrates improved results using MMET, then the innovation may be considered for the second stage of comprehensive testing and evaluation (T&E) prior to entering the final stage of preimplementation T&E. MMET provides initialization and observation datasets for several case studies and multiday periods. In addition, the DTC provides baseline results for select operational configurations that use the Advanced Research version of Weather Research and Forecasting Model (ARW) or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Environmental Modeling System Nonhydrostatic Multiscale Model on the B grid (NEMS-NMMB). These baselines can be used for testing sensitivities to different model versions or configurations in order to improve forecast performance.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Bolgiani ◽  
Javier Díaz-Fernández ◽  
Lara Quitián-Hernández ◽  
Mariano Sastre ◽  
Daniel Santos-Muñoz ◽  
...  

<p>As the computational capacity has been largely improved in the last decades, the grid configuration of numerical weather prediction models has stepped into microscale resolutions. Even if mesoscale models are not originally designed to reproduce fine scale phenomena, a large effort is being made by the research community to improve and adapt these systems. However, reasonable doubts exist regarding the ability of the models to forecast this type of events, due to the unfit parametrizations and the appearance of instabilities and lack of sensitivity in the variables. Here, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model effective resolution is evaluated for several situations and grid resolutions. This is achieved by assessing the curve of dissipation for the wind kinetic energy. Results show that the simulated energy spectrum responds to different synoptic conditions. Nevertheless, when the model is forced into microscale grid resolutions the dissipation curves present an unrealistic atmospheric energy. This may be a partial explanation to the aforementioned issues and imposes a large uncertainty to forecasting at these resolutions.</p>


2016 ◽  
Vol 97 (8) ◽  
pp. 1427-1440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Shao ◽  
John Derber ◽  
Xiang-Yu Huang ◽  
Ming Hu ◽  
Kathryn Newman ◽  
...  

Abstract With a goal of improving operational numerical weather prediction (NWP), the Developmental Testbed Center (DTC) has been working with operational centers, including, among others, the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the U.S. Air Force, to support numerical models/systems and their research, perform objective testing and evaluation of NWP methods, and facilitate research-to-operations transitions. This article introduces the first attempt of the DTC in the data assimilation area to help achieve this goal. Since 2009, the DTC, NCEP’s Environmental Modeling Center (EMC), and other developers have made significant progress in transitioning the operational Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation (GSI) data assimilation system into a community-based code management framework. Currently, GSI is provided to the public with user support and is open for contributions from internal developers as well as the broader research community, following the same code transition procedures. This article introduces measures and steps taken during this community GSI effort followed by discussions of encountered challenges and issues. The purpose of this article is to promote contributions from the research community to operational data assimilation capabilities and, furthermore, to seek potential solutions to stimulate such a transition and, eventually, improve the NWP capabilities in the United States.


2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matteo Mana ◽  
Davide Astolfi ◽  
Francesco Castellani ◽  
Cathérine Meißner

Abstract The importance of accurately forecasting the power production of wind farms is boosting the development of meteorological models and their processing. This work is a discussion of different forecast configurations for predicting the day ahead production of a wind farm sited in a moderately complex terrain. The numerical weather prediction (NWP) model MetCoOp Ensemble Prediction System with 2.5 km resolution focusing on the wind farm area is dynamically downscaled by the computational fluid model (CFD) model WindSim. The transfer of the NWP model to the CFD model can be done using NWP results from various heights above ground and using all or parts of the nodes of the NWP model within the wind farm area. In this work, many different forecasting configurations are validated and the impact on the forecast performance is discussed. The NWP-CFD downscaling results are compared to a day ahead forecast obtained through ANN methods and to the observed production. The main result of this work is that a deterministic downscaling method like CFD simulations can perform as good or better than statistical approaches when using high-resolution NWP models and more NWP model data.


2017 ◽  
Vol 98 (8) ◽  
pp. 1717-1737 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan G. Powers ◽  
Joseph B. Klemp ◽  
William C. Skamarock ◽  
Christopher A. Davis ◽  
Jimy Dudhia ◽  
...  

Abstract Since its initial release in 2000, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model has become one of the world’s most widely used numerical weather prediction models. Designed to serve both research and operational needs, it has grown to offer a spectrum of options and capabilities for a wide range of applications. In addition, it underlies a number of tailored systems that address Earth system modeling beyond weather. While the WRF Model has a centralized support effort, it has become a truly community model, driven by the developments and contributions of an active worldwide user base. The WRF Model sees significant use for operational forecasting, and its research implementations are pushing the boundaries of finescale atmospheric simulation. Future model directions include developments in physics, exploiting emerging compute technologies, and ever-innovative applications. From its contributions to research, forecasting, educational, and commercial efforts worldwide, the WRF Model has made a significant mark on numerical weather prediction and atmospheric science.


2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 1161-1178 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. Rudack ◽  
Judy E. Ghirardelli

Abstract In an effort to support aviation forecasting, the National Weather Service’s Meteorological Development Laboratory (MDL) has recently redeveloped the Localized Aviation Model Output Statistics (MOS) Program (LAMP) system. LAMP is designed to run hourly in NWS operations and produce short-range aviation forecast guidance at 1-h projections out to 25 h. This paper compares and contrasts LAMP ceiling height and visibility forecasts with forecasts produced by the 20-km Rapid Update Cycle model (RUC20), the Weather Research and Forecasting Nonhydrostatic Mesoscale Model (WRF-NMM), and the Short-Range Ensemble Forecast system (SREF). RUC20 and WRF-NMM forecasts of continuous ceiling height and visibility were interpolated to stations and converted into categorical forecasts. These interpolated forecasts were also categorized into instrument flight rule (IFR) or lower conditions and verified against LAMP forecasts at stations in the contiguous United States. LAMP and SREF probabilistic forecasts of ceiling height and visibility from LAMP and the SREF system were also verified. This study demonstrates that for the 0000 and 1200 UTC cycles over the contiguous United States, LAMP station-based categorical forecasts of ceiling height, visibility, and IFR conditions or lower are more accurate than the RUC20 and WRF-NMM ceiling height and visibility forecasts interpolated to stations. Moreover, for the 0900 and 2100 UTC forecast cycles and verification periods studied here, LAMP ceiling height and visibility probabilities exhibit better reliability and skill than the SREF system.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 1890
Author(s):  
Monika Rdest ◽  
Dawid Janas

This perspective article describes the application opportunities of carbon nanotube (CNT) films for the energy sector. Up to date progress in this regard is illustrated with representative examples of a wide range of energy management and transformation studies employing CNT ensembles. Firstly, this paper features an overview of how such macroscopic networks from nanocarbon can be produced. Then, the capabilities for their application in specific energy-related scenarios are described. Among the highlighted cases are conductive coatings, charge storage devices, thermal interface materials, and actuators. The selected examples demonstrate how electrical, thermal, radiant, and mechanical energy can be converted from one form to another using such formulations based on CNTs. The article is concluded with a future outlook, which anticipates the next steps which the research community will take to bring these concepts closer to implementation.


Author(s):  
Jose A. Gallud ◽  
Monica Carreño ◽  
Ricardo Tesoriero ◽  
Andrés Sandoval ◽  
María D. Lozano ◽  
...  

AbstractTechnology-based education of children with special needs has become the focus of many research works in recent years. The wide range of different disabilities that are encompassed by the term “special needs”, together with the educational requirements of the children affected, represent an enormous multidisciplinary challenge for the research community. In this article, we present a systematic literature review of technology-enhanced and game-based learning systems and methods applied on children with special needs. The article analyzes the state-of-the-art of the research in this field by selecting a group of primary studies and answering a set of research questions. Although there are some previous systematic reviews, it is still not clear what the best tools, games or academic subjects (with technology-enhanced, game-based learning) are, out of those that have obtained good results with children with special needs. The 18 articles selected (carefully filtered out of 614 contributions) have been used to reveal the most frequent disabilities, the different technologies used in the prototypes, the number of learning subjects, and the kind of learning games used. The article also summarizes research opportunities identified in the primary studies.


2017 ◽  
Vol 145 (10) ◽  
pp. 4127-4150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed Zahid Husain ◽  
Claude Girard

Inconsistencies may arise in numerical weather prediction models—that are based on semi-Lagrangian advection—when the governing dynamical and the kinematic trajectory equations are discretized in a dissimilar manner. This study presents consistent trajectory calculation approaches, both in the presence and absence of off-centering in the discretized dynamical equations. Both uniform and differential off-centering in the discretized dynamical equations have been considered. The proposed consistent trajectory calculations are evaluated using numerical experiments involving a nonhydrostatic two-dimensional theoretical mountain case and hydrostatic global forecasts. The experiments are carried out using the Global Environmental Multiscale model. Both the choice of the averaging method for approximating the velocity integral in the discretized trajectory equations and the interpolation scheme for calculating the departure positions are found to be important for consistent trajectory calculations. Results from the numerical experiments confirm that the proposed consistent trajectory calculation approaches not only improve numerical consistency, but also improve forecast accuracy.


2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (9) ◽  
pp. 2008-2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Zhang ◽  
Ying-Hwa Kuo ◽  
Shu-Ya Chen ◽  
Xiang-Yu Huang ◽  
Ling-Feng Hsiao

Abstract The nonlocal excess phase observation operator for assimilating the global positioning system (GPS) radio occultation (RO) sounding data has been proven by some research papers to produce significantly better analyses for numerical weather prediction (NWP) compared to the local refractivity observation operator. However, the high computational cost and the difficulties in parallelization associated with the nonlocal GPS RO operator deter its application in research and operational NWP practices. In this article, two strategies are designed and implemented in the data assimilation system for the Weather Research and Forecasting Model to demonstrate the capability of parallel assimilation of GPS RO profiles with the nonlocal excess phase observation operator. In particular, to solve the parallel load imbalance problem due to the uneven geographic distribution of the GPS RO observations, round-robin scheduling is adopted to distribute GPS RO observations among the processing cores to balance the workload. The wall clock time required to complete a five-iteration minimization on a demonstration Antarctic case with 106 GPS RO observations is reduced from more than 3.5 h with a single processing core to 2.5 min with 106 processing cores. These strategies present the possibility of application of the nonlocal GPS RO excess phase observation operator in operational data assimilation systems with a cutoff time limit.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 873
Author(s):  
Yakob Umer ◽  
Janneke Ettema ◽  
Victor Jetten ◽  
Gert-Jan Steeneveld ◽  
Reinder Ronda

Simulating high-intensity rainfall events that trigger local floods using a Numerical Weather Prediction model is challenging as rain-bearing systems are highly complex and localized. In this study, we analyze the performance of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model’s capability in simulating a high-intensity rainfall event using a variety of parameterization combinations over the Kampala catchment, Uganda. The study uses the high-intensity rainfall event that caused the local flood hazard on 25 June 2012 as a case study. The model capability to simulate the high-intensity rainfall event is performed for 24 simulations with a different combination of eight microphysics (MP), four cumulus (CP), and three planetary boundary layer (PBL) schemes. The model results are evaluated in terms of the total 24-h rainfall amount and its temporal and spatial distributions over the Kampala catchment using the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) analysis. Rainfall observations from two gauging stations and the CHIRPS satellite product served as benchmark. Based on the TOPSIS analysis, we find that the most successful combination consists of complex microphysics such as the Morrison 2-moment scheme combined with Grell-Freitas (GF) and ACM2 PBL with a good TOPSIS score. However, the WRF performance to simulate a high-intensity rainfall event that has triggered the local flood in parts of the catchment seems weak (i.e., 0.5, where the ideal score is 1). Although there is high spatial variability of the event with the high-intensity rainfall event triggering the localized floods simulated only in a few pockets of the catchment, it is remarkable to see that WRF is capable of producing this kind of event in the neighborhood of Kampala. This study confirms that the capability of the WRF model in producing high-intensity tropical rain events depends on the proper choice of parametrization combinations.


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