Atmospheric forcing by ALADIN/MFSTEP and MFSTEP oriented tunings

Abstract. ALADIN/MFSTEP is a configuration of the numerical weather prediction (NWP) model ALADIN run in a dedicated real-time mode for the purposes of the MFSTEP Project. A special attention was paid to the quality of atmospheric fluxes used for the forcing of fine-scale oceanographic models. This paper describes the novelties applied in ALADIN/MFSTEP initiated by the MFSTEP demands, leading also to improvements in general weather forecasting.

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One Year of Operational Numerical Weather Prediction, Part II *

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society ◽

10.1175/1520-0477-38.6.315 ◽

1957 ◽

Vol 38 (6) ◽

pp. 315-328 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Keyword(s):

Numerical Weather Prediction ◽

Weather Forecasting ◽

Weather Prediction ◽

Numerical Weather ◽

Level Data ◽

Analysis Center ◽

Numerical Weather Forecasting ◽

One Year ◽

Near Future

This is the second of two brief reports on the activities and results of the Joint Numerical Weather Prediction Unit since May 1955, and is concerned primarily with the accuracy and characteristic errors of the numerical forecasts described in the previous report. The quality of the barotropic and 3-level forecasts has been measured by several statistical indices of error, and compared with that of the subjective forecasts issued by the National Weather Analysis Center. A breakdown of these statistics shows the dependence of forecasting accuracy on length of forecast period, level, data coverage, and proximity of lateral boundaries. Various sources of systematic error are discussed with reference to the JNWP Unit's efforts to isolate and remedy them. After almost a year of experimentation and operational numerical weather forecasting, it is concluded that the quality of the numerical 500 millibar forecasts is not significantly different from that of the best subjective forecasts prepared by methods in current use. Recent results indicate that a significant improvement can be expected in the near future. The numerical 1000 mb forecasts are worse, but recent changes of model show promise of matching the performance of subjective methods. Finally, the most glaring systematic errors of the present numerical forecasts have adequate explanation in existing theory, and can be (or have already been) corrected by generalization of the models.

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Progress toward High-Resolution, Real-Time Radiosonde Reports

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society ◽

10.1175/bams-d-15-00169.1 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 97 (11) ◽

pp. 2149-2161 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Bruce Ingleby ◽

Patricia Pauley ◽

Alexander Kats ◽

Jeff Ator ◽

Dennis Keyser ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

Real Time ◽

Numerical Weather Prediction ◽

Meteorological Data ◽

Weather Prediction ◽

Vertical Resolution ◽

Not Given ◽

Rounding Errors ◽

Numerical Weather

Abstract Some real-time radiosonde reports are now available with higher vertical resolution and higher precision than the alphanumeric TEMP code. There are also extra metadata; for example, the software version may indicate whether humidity corrections have been applied at the station. Numerical weather prediction (NWP) centers and other users need to start using the new Binary Universal Form for Representation of Meteorological Data (BUFR) reports because the alphanumeric codes are being withdrawn. TEMP code has various restrictions and complexities introduced when telecommunication speed and costs were overriding concerns; one consequence is minor temperature rounding errors. In some ways BUFR reports are simpler: the whole ascent should be contained in a single report. BUFR reports can also include the time and location of each level; an ascent takes about 2 h and the balloon can drift 100 km or more laterally. This modernization is the largest and most complex change to the worldwide reporting of radiosonde observations for many years; international implementation is taking longer than planned and is very uneven. The change brings both opportunities and challenges. The biggest challenge is that the number and quality of the data from radiosonde ascents may suffer if the assessment of the BUFR reports and two-way communication between data producers and data users are not given the priority they require. It is possible that some countries will only attempt to replicate the old reports in the new format, not taking advantage of the benefits, which include easier treatment of radiosonde drift and a better understanding of instrument and processing details, as well as higher resolution.

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Aviation Model: A Fine-Scale Numerical Weather Prediction System for Aviation Applications at the Hong Kong International Airport

Advances in Meteorology ◽

10.1155/2013/532475 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2013 ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Wai-Kin Wong ◽

Cheong-Shing Lau ◽

Pak-Wai Chan

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Numerical Weather Prediction ◽

Current Model ◽

Weather Prediction ◽

Fine Scale ◽

Numerical Weather ◽

International Airport ◽

Computation Efficiency ◽

Nwp Model ◽

Hong Kong International Airport

The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) is planning to implement a fine-resolution Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model for supporting the aviation weather applications at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA). This new NWP model system, called Aviation Model (AVM), is configured at a horizontal grid spacing of 600 m and 200 m. It is based on the WRF-ARW (Advance Research WRF) model that can have sufficient computation efficiency in order to produce hourly updated forecasts up to 9 hours ahead on a future high performance computer system with theoretical peak performance of around 10 TFLOPS. AVM will be nested inside the operational mesoscale NWP model of HKO with horizontal resolution of 2 km. In this paper, initial numerical experiment results in forecast of windshear events due to seabreeze and terrain effect are discussed. The simulation of sea-breeze-related windshear is quite successful, and the headwind change observed from flight data could be reproduced in the model forecast. Some impacts of physical processes on generating the fine-scale wind circulation and development of significant convection are illustrated. The paper also discusses the limitations in the current model setup and proposes methods for the future development of AVM.

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UTCI as the NWP model ALADIN (CHMI) output – first experiences

Geographia Polonica ◽

10.7163/gpol.0203 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 94 (2) ◽

pp. 237-249

Author(s):

Martin Novák

Keyword(s):

Numerical Weather Prediction ◽

Meteorological Data ◽

Weather Prediction ◽

Climate Index ◽

Basic Information ◽

Universal Thermal Climate Index ◽

Numerical Weather ◽

Weather Forecasters ◽

Thermal Climate ◽

Nwp Model

The article includes a summary of basic information about the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) calculation by the numerical weather prediction (NWP) model ALADIN of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI). Examples of operational outputs for weather forecasters in the CHMI are shown in the first part of this work. The second part includes results of a comparison of computed UTCI values by ALADIN for selected place with UTCI values computed from real measured meteorological data from the same place.

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AIRS near-real-time products and algorithms in support of operational numerical weather prediction

IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing ◽

10.1109/tgrs.2002.808307 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

pp. 379-389 ◽

Cited By ~ 141

Author(s):

M.D. Goldberg ◽

Yanni Qu ◽

L.M. McMillin ◽

W. Wolf ◽

Lihang Zhou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Real Time ◽

Numerical Weather Prediction ◽

Weather Prediction ◽

Numerical Weather

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The Use of a Numerical Weather Prediction Model to Simulate Near-Field Volcanic Plumes

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos11060594 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 594

Author(s):

Ralph R. Burton ◽

Mark J. Woodhouse ◽

Alan M. Gadian ◽

Stephen D. Mobbs

Keyword(s):

Numerical Weather Prediction ◽

Near Field ◽

Weather Prediction ◽

Wrf Model ◽

Integral Model ◽

Eruption Column ◽

Volcanic Plumes ◽

Numerical Weather ◽

Essential Components ◽

Nwp Model

In this paper, a state-of the art numerical weather prediction (NWP) model is used to simulate the near-field plume of a Plinian-type volcanic eruption. The NWP model is run at very high resolution (of the order of 100 m) and includes a representation of physical processes, including turbulence and buoyancy, that are essential components of eruption column dynamics. Results are shown that illustrate buoyant gas plume dynamics in an atmosphere at rest and in an atmosphere with background wind, and we show that these results agree well with those from theoretical models in the quiescent atmosphere. For wind-blown plumes, we show that features observed in experimental and natural settings are reproduced in our model. However, when comparing with predictions from an integral model using existing entrainment closures there are marked differences. We speculate that these are signatures of a difference in turbulent mixing for uniform and shear flow profiles in a stratified atmosphere. A more complex implementation is given to show that the model may also be used to examine the dispersion of heavy volcanic gases such as sulphur dioxide. Starting from the standard version of the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model, we show that minimal modifications are needed in order to model volcanic plumes. This suggests that the modified NWP model can be used in the forecasting of plume evolution during future volcanic events, in addition to providing a virtual laboratory for the testing of hypotheses regarding plume behaviour.

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Near Real Time GPS Water Vapor Monitoring for Numerical Weather Prediction in Germany

Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan Ser II ◽

10.2151/jmsj.2004.361 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 82 (1B) ◽

pp. 361-370 ◽

Cited By ~ 118

Author(s):

Gerd GENDT ◽

Galina DICK ◽

Christoph REIGBER ◽

Maria TOMASSINI ◽

Yanxiong LIU ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Vapor ◽

Real Time ◽

Numerical Weather Prediction ◽

Weather Prediction ◽

Numerical Weather

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Viability of Cloud Computing for Real-Time Numerical Weather Prediction

Weather and Forecasting ◽

10.1175/waf-d-16-0075.1 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 31 (6) ◽

pp. 1985-1996 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

David Siuta ◽

Gregory West ◽

Henryk Modzelewski ◽

Roland Schigas ◽

Roland Stull

Keyword(s):

Cloud Computing ◽

High Performance Computing ◽

Real Time ◽

Numerical Weather Prediction ◽

High Performance ◽

Virtual Machines ◽

Weather Prediction ◽

Cloud Platform ◽

Numerical Weather ◽

Performance Computing

Abstract As cloud-service providers like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft decrease costs and increase performance, numerical weather prediction (NWP) in the cloud will become a reality not only for research use but for real-time use as well. The performance of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model on the Google Cloud Platform is tested and configurations and optimizations of virtual machines that meet two main requirements of real-time NWP are found: 1) fast forecast completion (timeliness) and 2) economic cost effectiveness when compared with traditional on-premise high-performance computing hardware. Optimum performance was found by using the Intel compiler collection with no more than eight virtual CPUs per virtual machine. Using these configurations, real-time NWP on the Google Cloud Platform is found to be economically competitive when compared with the purchase of local high-performance computing hardware for NWP needs. Cloud-computing services are becoming viable alternatives to on-premise compute clusters for some applications.

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An Evaluation of Radiative Transfer Simulations of Cloudy Scenes from a Numerical Weather Prediction Model at Sub-Millimetre Frequencies Using Airborne Observations

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs12172758 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (17) ◽

pp. 2758

Author(s):

Stuart Fox

Keyword(s):

Optical Properties ◽

Radiative Transfer ◽

Numerical Weather Prediction ◽

Weather Prediction ◽

Full Range ◽

Numerical Weather Prediction Model ◽

Atmospheric Measurements ◽

Numerical Weather ◽

Nwp Model ◽

Cloud Ice

The Ice Cloud Imager (ICI) will be launched on the next generation of EUMETSAT polar-orbiting weather satellites and make passive observations between 183 and 664 GHz which are sensitive to scattering from cloud ice. These observations have the potential to improve weather forecasts through direct assimilation using "all-sky" methods which have been successfully applied to microwave observations up to 200 GHz in current operational systems. This requires sufficiently accurate representations of cloud ice in both numerical weather prediction (NWP) and radiative transfer models. In this study, atmospheric fields from a high-resolution NWP model are used to drive radiative transfer simulations using the Atmospheric Radiative Transfer Simulator (ARTS) and a recently released database of cloud ice optical properties. The simulations are evaluated using measurements between 89 and 874 GHz from five case studies of ice and mixed-phase clouds observed by the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) BAe-146 research aircraft. The simulations are strongly sensitive to the assumed cloud ice optical properties, but by choosing an appropriate ice crystal model it is possible to simulate realistic brightness temperatures over the full range of sub-millimetre frequencies. This suggests that sub-millimetre observations have the potential to be assimilated into NWP models using the all-sky method.

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