scholarly journals Sensitivity, Structure, and Dynamics of Singular Vectors Associated with Hurricane Helene (2006)

2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 675-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon T. K. Lang ◽  
Sarah C. Jones ◽  
Martin Leutbecher ◽  
Melinda S. Peng ◽  
Carolyn A. Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Growth Dynamics ◽  
Ensemble Forecasts ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Singular Vectors ◽  
Medium Range ◽  
Flow Features ◽  
Forecasting System ◽  
Diabatic Processes ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The sensitivity of singular vectors (SVs) associated with Hurricane Helene (2006) to resolution and diabatic processes is investigated. Furthermore, the dynamics of their growth are analyzed. The SVs are calculated using the tangent linear and adjoint model of the integrated forecasting system (IFS) of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts with a spatial resolution up to TL255 (~80 km) and 48-h optimization time. The TL255 moist (diabatic) SVs possess a three-dimensional spiral structure with significant horizontal and vertical upshear tilt within the tropical cyclone (TC). Also, their amplitude is larger than that of dry and lower-resolution SVs closer to the center of Helene. Both higher resolution and diabatic processes result in stronger growth being associated with the TC compared to other flow features. The growth of the SVs in the vicinity of Helene is associated with baroclinic and barotropic mechanisms. The combined effect of higher resolution and diabatic processes leads to significant differences of the SV structure and growth dynamics within the core and in the vicinity of the TC. If used to initialize ensemble forecasts with the IFS, the higher-resolution moist SVs cause larger spread of the wind speed, track, and intensity of Helene than their lower-resolution or dry counterparts. They affect the outflow of the TC more strongly, resulting in a larger downstream impact during recurvature. Increasing the resolution or including diabatic effects degrades the linearity of the SVs. While the impact of diabatic effects on the linearity is small at low resolution, it becomes large at high resolution.

scholarly journals An aerosol climatology for global models based on the tropospheric aerosol scheme in the Integrated Forecasting System of ECMWF

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessio Bozzo ◽  
Angela Benedetti ◽  
Johannes Flemming ◽  
Zak Kipling ◽  
Samuel Rémy
Keyword(s):  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Regional Distribution ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Monsoon Circulation ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Tropospheric Aerosol ◽  
Medium Range ◽  
Forecasting System ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Aerosol Radiative

Abstract. An aerosol climatology to represent aerosols in the radiation schemes of Global Atmospheric Models was recently developed. We derived the climatology from a reanalysis of atmospheric composition produced by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). As an example of application into a global atmospheric model, we discuss the technical aspects of the implementation in the Integrated Forecasting System of European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF-IFS) and the impact of the new climatology on the medium-range weather forecasts and one-year simulations. The new aerosol climatology was derived by combining a set of model simulation with constrained meteorological conditions and an atmospheric composition reanalysis for the period 2003–2014 produced by the IFS. The aerosol fields of the re-analysis are constrained by assimilating Aerosol optical thickness (AOT) retrievals product by the MODIS instruments. In a further step, we used modelled aerosol fields to correct the aerosol speciation and the vertical profiles of the aerosol reanalysis fields. The new climatology provides the monthly-mean mass mixing ratio of five aerosol species constrained by assimilated MODIS AOT. Using the new climatology in the ECMWF-IFS leads to changes in direct aerosol radiative effect compared to the climatology previously implemented, which have a small, but non-negligible impact on the forecast skill of large-scale weather patterns in the medium-range. However, details of the regional distribution of aerosol radiative forcing can have a large local impact. This is the case for the area of the Arabian Peninsula and the northern Indian Ocean. Here changes in the radiative forcing of the mineral dust significantly improve the Summer Monsoon circulation.

scholarly journals ECMWF Activities for Improved Hurricane Forecasts

2019 ◽  
Vol 100 (3) ◽  
pp. 445-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Magnusson ◽  
J.-R. Bidlot ◽  
M. Bonavita ◽  
A. R. Brown ◽  
P. A. Browne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Ocean Coupling ◽  
Hurricane Season ◽  
Medium Range ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Forecasting System ◽  
The Impact

AbstractTropical cyclones are some of the most devastating natural hazards and the “three beasts”—Harvey, Irma, and Maria—during the Atlantic hurricane season 2017 are recent examples. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is working on fulfilling its 2016–25 strategy in which early warnings for extreme events will be made possible by a high-resolution Earth system ensemble forecasting system. Several verification reports acknowledge deterministic and probabilistic tropical cyclone tracks from ECMWF as world leading. However, producing reliable intensity forecasts is still a difficult task for the ECMWF global forecasting model, especially regarding maximum wind speed. This article will put the ECMWF strategy into a tropical cyclone perspective and highlight some key research activities, using Harvey, Irma, and Maria as examples. We describe the observation usage around tropical cyclones in data assimilation and give examples of their impact. From a model perspective, we show the impact of running at 5-km resolution and also the impact of applying ocean coupling. Finally, we discuss the future challenges to tackle the errors in intensity forecasts for tropical cyclones.

scholarly journals An aerosol climatology for global models based on the tropospheric aerosol scheme in the Integrated Forecasting System of ECMWF

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1007-1034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessio Bozzo ◽  
Angela Benedetti ◽  
Johannes Flemming ◽  
Zak Kipling ◽  
Samuel Rémy
Keyword(s):  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Regional Distribution ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Monsoon Circulation ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Tropospheric Aerosol ◽  
Medium Range ◽  
Forecasting System ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Aerosol Radiative

Abstract. An aerosol climatology to represent aerosols in the radiation schemes of global atmospheric models was recently developed. We derived the climatology from a reanalysis of atmospheric composition produced by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). As an example of an application in a global atmospheric model, we discuss the technical aspects of the implementation in the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts Integrated Forecasting System (ECMWF-IFS) and the impact of the new climatology on the medium-range weather forecasts and 1-year simulations. The new aerosol climatology was derived by combining a set of model simulations with constrained meteorological conditions and an atmospheric composition reanalysis for the period 2003–2013 produced by the IFS. The aerosol fields of the reanalysis are constrained by assimilating the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) retrievals product by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments. In a further step, we used modelled aerosol fields to correct the aerosol speciation and the vertical profiles of the aerosol reanalysis fields. The new climatology provides the monthly-mean mass mixing ratio of five aerosol species constrained by assimilated MODIS AOT. Using the new climatology in the ECMWF-IFS leads to changes in the direct aerosol radiative effect compared to the climatology previously implemented, which have a small but non-impact on the forecast skill of large-scale weather patterns in the medium-range. However, details of the regional distribution of aerosol radiative forcing can have a large local impact. This is the case for the area of the Arabian Peninsula and the northern Indian Ocean. Here changes in the radiative forcing of the mineral dust significantly improve the summer monsoon circulation.

scholarly journals Addressing model error through atmospheric stochastic physical parametrizations: impact on the coupled ECMWF seasonal forecasting system

2014 ◽  
Vol 372 (2018) ◽  
pp. 20130290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antje Weisheimer ◽  
Susanna Corti ◽  
Tim Palmer ◽  
Frederic Vitart
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Seasonal Forecasting ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
European Centre ◽  
Medium Range ◽  
Forecasting System ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Stochastically Perturbed

The finite resolution of general circulation models of the coupled atmosphere–ocean system and the effects of sub-grid-scale variability present a major source of uncertainty in model simulations on all time scales. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts has been at the forefront of developing new approaches to account for these uncertainties. In particular, the stochastically perturbed physical tendency scheme and the stochastically perturbed backscatter algorithm for the atmosphere are now used routinely for global numerical weather prediction. The European Centre also performs long-range predictions of the coupled atmosphere–ocean climate system in operational forecast mode, and the latest seasonal forecasting system—System 4—has the stochastically perturbed tendency and backscatter schemes implemented in a similar way to that for the medium-range weather forecasts. Here, we present results of the impact of these schemes in System 4 by contrasting the operational performance on seasonal time scales during the retrospective forecast period 1981–2010 with comparable simulations that do not account for the representation of model uncertainty. We find that the stochastic tendency perturbation schemes helped to reduce excessively strong convective activity especially over the Maritime Continent and the tropical Western Pacific, leading to reduced biases of the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), cloud cover, precipitation and near-surface winds. Positive impact was also found for the statistics of the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO), showing an increase in the frequencies and amplitudes of MJO events. Further, the errors of El Niño southern oscillation forecasts become smaller, whereas increases in ensemble spread lead to a better calibrated system if the stochastic tendency is activated. The backscatter scheme has overall neutral impact. Finally, evidence for noise-activated regime transitions has been found in a cluster analysis of mid-latitude circulation regimes over the Pacific–North America region.

Assessment of Unsteady Flows in Turbines

1992 ◽  
Vol 114 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. P. Sharma ◽  
G. F. Pickett ◽  
R. H. Ni
Keyword(s):  
Unsteady Flow ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Flow Simulation ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Flow Parameters ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Flow Features ◽  
Computational Fluid Dynamics Cfd ◽  
Turbine Design ◽  
The Impact

The impacts of unsteady flow research activities on flow simulation methods used in the turbine design process are assessed. Results from experimental investigations that identify the impact of periodic unsteadiness on the time-averaged flows in turbines and results from numerical simulations obtained by using three-dimensional unsteady Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) codes indicate that some of the unsteady flow features can be fairly accurately predicted. Flow parameters that can be modeled with existing steady CFD codes are distinguished from those that require unsteady codes.

scholarly journals Nonhomogeneous Boosting for Predictor Selection in Ensemble Postprocessing

2016 ◽  
Vol 145 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakob W. Messner ◽  
Georg J. Mayr ◽  
Achim Zeileis
Keyword(s):  
Regression Coefficients ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Ensemble Forecasts ◽  
Forecast Performance ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Medium Range ◽  
Important Input ◽  
Boosting Algorithm ◽  
Input Variables

Abstract Nonhomogeneous regression is often used to statistically postprocess ensemble forecasts. Usually only ensemble forecasts of the predictand variable are used as input, but other potentially useful information sources are ignored. Although it is straightforward to add further input variables, overfitting can easily deteriorate the forecast performance for increasing numbers of input variables. This paper proposes a boosting algorithm to estimate the regression coefficients, while automatically selecting the most relevant input variables by restricting the coefficients of less important variables to zero. A case study with ensemble forecasts from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) shows that this approach effectively selects important input variables to clearly improve minimum and maximum temperature predictions at five central European stations.

New Methods for Data Storage of Model Output from Ensemble Simulations

2019 ◽  
Vol 147 (2) ◽  
pp. 677-689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter D. Düben ◽  
Martin Leutbecher ◽  
Peter Bauer
Keyword(s):  
Data Storage ◽  
Climate Modeling ◽  
Model Resolution ◽  
Ensemble Spread ◽  
Ensemble Forecasts ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Ensemble Simulations ◽  
New Methods ◽  
Weather And Climate ◽  
Medium Range

Abstract Data storage and data processing generate significant cost for weather and climate modeling centers. The volume of data that needs to be stored and data that are disseminated to end users increases with increasing model resolution and the use of larger forecast ensembles. If precision of data is reduced, cost can be reduced accordingly. In this paper, three new methods to allow a reduction in precision with minimal loss of information are suggested and tested. Two of these methods rely on the similarities between ensemble members in ensemble forecasts. Therefore, precision will be high at the beginning of forecasts when ensemble members are more similar, to provide sufficient distinction, and decrease with increasing ensemble spread. To keep precision high for predictable situations and low elsewhere appears to be a useful approach to optimize data storage in weather forecasts. All methods are tested with data of operational weather forecasts of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.

Predictions of 2010’s Tropical Cyclones Using the GFS and Ensemble-Based Data Assimilation Methods

2011 ◽  
Vol 139 (10) ◽  
pp. 3243-3247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Hamill ◽  
Jeffrey S. Whitaker ◽  
Daryl T. Kleist ◽  
Michael Fiorino ◽  
Stanley G. Benjamin
Keyword(s):  
Data Assimilation ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Ensemble Prediction ◽  
Ensemble Forecasts ◽  
Ensemble Prediction System ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Successful Testing ◽  
Gfs Model ◽  
Environmental Prediction ◽  
Statistical Interpolation

Abstract Experimental ensemble predictions of tropical cyclone (TC) tracks from the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) using the Global Forecast System (GFS) model were recently validated for the 2009 Northern Hemisphere hurricane season by Hamill et al. A similar suite of tests is described here for the 2010 season. Two major changes were made this season: 1) a reduction in the resolution of the GFS model, from 2009’s T384L64 (~31 km at 25°N) to 2010’s T254L64 (~47 km at 25°N), and some changes in model physics; and 2) the addition of a limited test of deterministic forecasts initialized from a hybrid three-dimensional variational data assimilation (3D-Var)/EnKF method. The GFS/EnKF ensembles continued to produce reduced track errors relative to operational ensemble forecasts created by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), the Met Office (UKMO), and the Canadian Meteorological Centre (CMC). The GFS/EnKF was not uniformly as skillful as the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ensemble prediction system. GFS/EnKF track forecasts had slightly higher error than ECMWF at longer leads, especially in the western North Pacific, and exhibited poorer calibration between spread and error than in 2009, perhaps in part because of lower model resolution. Deterministic forecasts from the hybrid were competitive with deterministic EnKF ensemble-mean forecasts and superior in track error to those initialized from the operational variational algorithm, the Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation (GSI). Pending further successful testing, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) intends to implement the global hybrid system operationally for data assimilation.

Predicting Wind Power with Reforecasts

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 1655-1662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Dabernig ◽  
Georg J. Mayr ◽  
Jakob W. Messner
Keyword(s):  
Wind Power ◽  
Systematic Errors ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Energy Market ◽  
Limited Area ◽  
Ensemble Forecasts ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Medium Range ◽  
Operational Models ◽  
Nwp Model

Abstract Energy traders and decision-makers need accurate wind power forecasts. For this purpose, numerical weather predictions (NWPs) are often statistically postprocessed to correct systematic errors. This requires a dataset of past forecasts and observations that is often limited by frequent NWP model enhancements that change the statistical model properties. Reforecasts that recompute past forecasts with a recent model provide considerably longer datasets but usually have weaker setups than operational models. This study tests the reforecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) for wind power predictions. The NOAA reforecast clearly performs worse than the ECMWF reforecast, the operational ECMWF deterministic and ensemble forecasts, and a limited-area model of the Austrian weather service [Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik (ZAMG)]. On the contrary, the ECMWF reforecast has, of all tested models, the smallest squared errors and one of the highest financial values in an energy market.

The Impact of Initial Condition and Warm Conveyor Belt Forecast Uncertainty on Variability in the Downstream Waveguide in an ECWMF Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 147 (11) ◽  
pp. 4071-4089 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy D. Berman ◽  
Ryan D. Torn
Keyword(s):  
Conveyor Belt ◽  
Forecast Uncertainty ◽  
Ensemble Forecasts ◽  
Rossby Wave Breaking ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
The North ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
High Impact Weather ◽  
Sensitivity Method ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Perturbations to the potential vorticity (PV) waveguide, which can result from latent heat release within the warm conveyor belt (WCB) of midlatitude cyclones, can lead to the downstream radiation of Rossby waves, and in turn high-impact weather events. Previous studies have hypothesized that forecast uncertainty associated with diabatic heating in WCBs can result in large downstream forecast variability; however, these studies have not established a direct connection between the two. This study evaluates the potential impact of latent heating variability in the WCB on subsequent downstream forecasts by applying the ensemble-based sensitivity method to European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ensemble forecasts of a cyclogenesis event over the North Atlantic. For this case, ensemble members with a more amplified ridge are associated with greater negative PV advection by the irrotational wind, which is associated with stronger lower-tropospheric southerly moisture transport east of the upstream cyclone in the WCB. This transport is sensitive to the pressure trough to the south of the cyclone along the cold front, which in turn is modulated by earlier differences in the motion of the air masses on either side of the front. The position of the cold air behind the front is modulated by upstream tropopause-based PV anomalies, such that a deeper pressure trough is associated with a more progressive flow pattern, originating from Rossby wave breaking over the North Pacific. Overall, these results suggest that more accurate forecasts of upstream PV anomalies and WCBs may reduce forecast uncertainty in the downstream waveguide.

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