The impact of London on a low-level jet

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aristofanis Tsiringakis ◽  
Natalie Theeuwes ◽  
Janet Barlow ◽  
Gert-Jan Steeneveld
Keyword(s):  
Urban Area ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Vertical Mixing ◽  
Forecasting Model ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Low Level Jet ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Numerical Weather Prediction Models

<p>The low-level jet (LLJ) is an important phenomenon that can affect (and is affected by) the turbulence in the nocturnal urban boundary layer (UBL). We investigate the interaction of a regional LLJ with the UBL during a 2-day period over London. Observations from two Doppler Lidars and two numerical weather prediction models (Weather Research & Forecasting model and UKV Met Office Unified Model) are used to compared the LLJ characteristics (height, speed and fall-off) between a urban (London) and a rural (Chilbolton) site. We find that LLJs are elevated (70m) over London, due to the deeper UBL, an effect of the increased vertical mixing over the urban area and the difference in the topography between the two sites. Wind speed and fall-off are slightly reduced with respect to the rural LLJ. The effects of the urban area and the surrounding topography on the LLJ characteristics over London are isolated through idealized sensitivity experiments. We find that topography strongly affects the LLJ characteristics (height, falloff, and speed), but there is still a substantial urban influence.</p>

scholarly journals Operational Assimilation of GPS Zenith Total Delay Observations into the Met Office Numerical Weather Prediction Models

2012 ◽  
Vol 140 (8) ◽  
pp. 2706-2719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gemma V. Bennitt ◽  
Adrian Jupp
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Weather Prediction ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Total Delay ◽  
Numerical Weather ◽  
Zenith Total Delay ◽  
Nwp Model ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Numerical Weather Prediction Models

Abstract Zenith total delay (ZTD) observations derived from ground-based GPS receivers have been assimilated operationally into the Met Office North Atlantic and European (NAE) numerical weather prediction (NWP) model since 2007. Assimilation trials were performed using the Met Office NAE NWP model at both 12- and 24-km resolution to assess the impact of ZTDs on forecasts. ZTDs were found generally to increase relative humidity in the analysis, increasing the humidity bias compared to radiosonde observations, which persisted through the forecasts at some vertical levels. Improvements to cloud forecasts were also identified. Assimilation of ZTDs using both three-dimensional and four-dimensional variational data assimilation (3D-Var/4D-Var) was investigated, and it is found that assimilation at 4D-Var does not deliver any clear benefit over 3D-Var in the periods studied with the NAE model. This paper summarizes the methods used to assimilate ZTDs at the Met Office and presents the results of impact trials performed prior to operational assimilation. Future improvements to the assimilation methods are discussed.

scholarly journals An OSSE Framework Based on the Ensemble Square Root Kalman Filter for Evaluating the Impact of Data from Radar Networks on Thunderstorm Analysis and Forecasting

2006 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Xue ◽  
Mingjing Tong ◽  
Kelvin K. Droegemeier
Keyword(s):  
Kalman Filter ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Propagation Speed ◽  
Square Root ◽  
Test Bed ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Radar Network ◽  
The Impact

Abstract A framework for Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) based on the ensemble square root Kalman filter (EnSRF) technique for assimilating data from more than one radar network is described. The system is tested by assimilating simulated radial velocity and reflectivity data from a Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) radar and a network of four low-cost radars planned for the Oklahoma test bed by the new National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA). Such networks are meant to adaptively probe the lower atmosphere that is often missed by the existing WSR-88D radar network, so as to improve the detection of low-level hazardous weather events and to provide more complete data for the initialization of numerical weather prediction models. Different from earlier OSSE work with ensemble Kalman filters, the radar data are sampled on the radar elevation levels and a more realistic forward operator based on the Gaussian power-gain function is used. A stretched vertical grid with high vertical resolution near the ground allows for a better examination of the impact of low-level data. Furthermore, the impacts of storm propagation and higher-volume scan frequencies up to one volume scan per minute on the quality of analysis are examined, using a domain of a sufficient size. The generally good analysis compared to earlier work indicates that the filter can effectively handle the non-uniform-resolution data on the radar elevation levels. The assimilation of additional data from a well-positioned (relative to the storm) CASA radar improves the analysis of a supercell storm system that uses data from one WSR-88D radar alone; and the improvement is most significant at the low levels. When data from a single CASA radar are assimilated and when the radar does not provide full coverage of the storm system, significant errors develop in the analysis that cannot be effectively corrected. The combination of three CASA radars produces analyses of similar quality as the combination of one WSR-88D radar and one well-positioned CASA radar. The most significant effect of storm propagation speed appears to be on the data coverage, which in turn affects the analysis quality. It is generally true that the more observations, the better the analysis. The results of the EnSRF assimilation are not very sensitive to the propagation speed. The quality of analysis can be improved by employing faster volume scans. The sensitivity of the EnSRF analysis to the volume scan interval is however much less than that of traditional velocity and thermodynamic retrieval schemes, suggesting the superiority of the EnSRF method compared to traditional methods. The very frequent update of the model state by the filter, even at 1-min intervals, does not show any negative effect, indicating that the analyzed fields are well balanced.

Calibrating the Tropospheric Delays of VLBI Observations using Numerical Weather Prediction Models

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Nilsson ◽  
Kyriakos Balidakis
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Weather Prediction ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
External Information ◽  
Local Networks ◽  
Numerical Weather ◽  
Vlbi Data ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Tropospheric Delays ◽  
Numerical Weather Prediction Models

<p>The observations of geodetic Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) are affected by the troposphere, and this effect needs to be considered in the VLBI data analysis. The normal way of doing this is to estimate the zenith tropospheric delays and tropospheric gradients as additional parameter in the analysis. However, due to the poor geometric distributions of the observations in some VLBI sessions, like the Intensives, the tropospheric parameters cannot be estimated with a high accuracy. An alternative is to use external information on the tropospheric delay from Numerical Weather Prediction Models (NWM). Due to the increasing accuracy of the NWM, this alternative is becoming more and more interesting. In this work, we use tropospheric delays from the fifth ECMWF reanalysis, ERA5, in the analysis of VLBI data and evaluate the impacts on the results. We study the impact of different types of VLBI sessions, like Intensives, local networks, and global networks. The results of this study will show to what extent ERA5 data can be used to correct the tropospheric delays in geodetic VLBI. Furthermore, the results also give information on the accuracy of the tropospheric delays from NMW.</p>

The impact of vertical resolution on tropical cyclone simulation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Huang ◽  
Mengjuan Liu ◽  
Xu Zhang ◽  
Jian-wen Bao
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Vertical Mixing ◽  
Forecast Model ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Model Solution ◽  
Vertical Resolution ◽  
Solution Convergence ◽  
The Impact

<p>It is well known that horizontal resolution has a great deal of impact on tropical cyclone simulations using numerical weather prediction models.  It is relatively less discussed in the literature how vertical resolution affects the solution convergence of tropical cyclone simulations.  In this study, the resolved kinetic energy spectrum, the Richardson number probability density function and resolved flow features are used as metrics to examine the behavior of solution convergence in tropical cyclone simulations using the Weather and Forecast Model (WRF).  It is found that for convective-scale simulations of a real tropical cyclone case with 3-km horizontal resolution, the model solution does not converge until a vertically stretched vertical resolution approaches 200 layers or more.  The results from this study confirm the results from a few previous studies that the subgrid turbulent mixing, particularly, the vertical mixing, plays a significant role in the behavior of model solution convergence with respect to vertical resolution.  They also provide a basis for the vertical grid configuration selection for the operational tropical cyclone model of Shanghai Meteorological Service.</p>

scholarly journals The Influence of Wildfire Smoke on Cloud Microphysics during the September 2020 Pacific Northwest Wildfires

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Conrick ◽  
Clifford F. Mass ◽  
Joseph P. Boomgard-Zagrodnik ◽  
David Ovens
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Cloud Microphysics ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Wildfire Smoke ◽  
Cloud Coverage ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Impact

AbstractDuring late summer 2020, large wildfires over the Pacific Northwest produced dense smoke that impacted the region for an extended period. During this period of poor air quality, persistent low-level cloud coverage was poorly forecast by operational numerical weather prediction models, which dissipated clouds too quickly or produced insufficient cloud coverage extent. This deficiency raises questions about the influence of wildfire smoke on low-level clouds in the marine environment of the Pacific Northwest.This paper investigates the effects of wildfire smoke on the properties of low-level clouds, including their formation, microphysical properties, and dissipation. A case study from 12-14 September 2020 is used as a testbed to evaluate the impact of wildfire smoke on such clouds. Observations from satellites and surface observing sites, coupled with mesoscale model simulations, are applied to understand the influence of wildfire smoke during this event. Results indicate that the presence of thick smoke over Washington led to decreased temperatures in the lower troposphere which enhanced low-level cloud coverage, with smoke particles altering the microphysical structure of clouds to favor high concentrations of small droplets. Thermodynamic changes due to smoke are found to be the primary driver of enhanced cloud lifetime during these events, with microphysical changes to clouds as a secondary contributing factor. However, both the thermodynamic and microphysical effects are necessary to produce a realistic simulation.

Evaluation of Low-Level Winds from WRF Model that Driven by Different Background Field Data with Applications to Wind Energy Forecasting

2012 ◽  
Vol 608-609 ◽  
pp. 692-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Lin Liu ◽  
Zhao Ming Yang ◽  
Shuang Long Jing ◽  
Zhi Qiang Wang ◽  
Shi Gong Wang
Keyword(s):  
Wind Power ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Wrf Model ◽  
Northwest China ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Background Data ◽  
The Impact

With the large-scale and rapid development of wind power in China, the accuracy of wind power prediction is asked for higher. So how to improve the accuracy of numerical weather prediction models which forecast wind has become an important and critical issue. That the accuracy of numerical prediction models as well as the bias of background data is main cause why generate simulated error. This paper attempted to employ the advanced WRF model to simulate the low-level wind in arid region of northwest China, and then evaluated the impact size that using FNL and GFS background data. The results show that using FNL and GFS data simulated wind is very close. It is found that simulation results driven by the FNL assimilated data are worse sometimes. Consequently, we can conclude that FNL assimilated data as well as GFS forecast data are close and the assimilation of FNL data is still need to improvement in northwest China.

Forecasting of Tornadoes and Downbursts

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Djordje Romanic
Keyword(s):  
Chaos Theory ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
The Past ◽  
Extreme Wind ◽  
Extreme Wind Speeds ◽  
Numerical Weather Prediction Models

Tornadoes and downbursts cause extreme wind speeds that often present a threat to human safety, structures, and the environment. While the accuracy of weather forecasts has increased manifold over the past several decades, the current numerical weather prediction models are still not capable of explicitly resolving tornadoes and small-scale downbursts in their operational applications. This chapter describes some of the physical (e.g., tornadogenesis and downburst formation), mathematical (e.g., chaos theory), and computational (e.g., grid resolution) challenges that meteorologists currently face in tornado and downburst forecasting.

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