A Dynamic Statistical Subseasonal Forecast Model for OLR Over Tropical Pacific Region

How to improve the subseasonal forecast skills of dynamic models has always been an important issue in atmospheric science and service. This study proposes a new dynamical-statistical forecast method and a stable components dynamic statistical forecast (STsDSF) for subseasonal outgoing long-wave radiation (OLR) over the tropical Pacific region in January-February from 2004 to 2008. Compared with 11 advanced multi-model ensemble (MME) daily forecasts, the STsDSF model was able to capture the change characteristics of OLR better when the lead time was beyond 30 days in 2005 and 2006. The average pattern correlation coefficients (PCC) of STsDSF are 0.24 and 0.16 in 2005 and 2006, while MME is 0.10 and 0.05, respectively. In addition, the average value of PCC of the STsDSF model in five years is higher than MME in 7–11 pentads. Although both the STsDSF model and MME show a similar temporal correlation coefficient (TCC) pattern over the tropical Pacific region, the STsDSF model error grows more slowly than the MME error during 8–12 pentads in January 2005. This phenomenon demonstrates that STsDSF can reduce dynamical model error in some situations. According to the comparison of subseasonal forecasts between STsDSF and MME in five years, STsDSF model skill depends strictly on the predictability of the dynamical model. The STsDSF model shows some advantages when the dynamical model could not forecast well above a certain level. In this study, the STsDSF model can be used as an effective reference for subseasonal forecast and could feasibly be used in real-time forecast business in the future.

Inferring the instability of a dynamical system from the skill of data assimilation exercises

Data assimilation (DA) aims at optimally merging observational data and model outputs to create a coherent statistical and dynamical picture of the system under investigation. Indeed, DA aims at minimizing the effect of observational and model error and at distilling the correct ingredients of its dynamics. DA is of critical importance for the analysis of systems featuring sensitive dependence on the initial conditions, as chaos wins over any finitely accurate knowledge of the state of the system, even in absence of model error. Clearly, the skill of DA is guided by the properties of dynamical system under investigation, as merging optimally observational data and model outputs is harder when strong instabilities are present. In this paper we reverse the usual angle on the problem and show that it is indeed possible to use the skill of DA to infer some basic properties of the tangent space of the system, which may be hard to compute in very high-dimensional systems. Here, we focus our attention on the first Lyapunov exponent and the Kolmogorov–Sinai entropy and perform numerical experiments on the Vissio–Lucarini 2020 model, a recently proposed generalization of the Lorenz 1996 model that is able to describe in a simple yet meaningful way the interplay between dynamical and thermodynamical variables.

Recalculation of error growth models' parameters for the ECMWF forecast system

This article provides a new estimate of error growth models' parameters approximating predictability curves and their differentials, calculated from data of the ECMWF forecast system over the 1986 to 2011 period. Estimates of the largest Lyapunov exponent are also provided, along with model error and the limit value of the predictability curve. The proposed correction is based on the ability of the Lorenz (2005) system to simulate the predictability curve of the ECMWF forecasting system and on comparing the parameters estimated for both these systems, as well as on comparison with the largest Lyapunov exponent (λ=0.35 d−1) and limit value of the predictability curve (E∞=8.2) of the Lorenz system. Parameters are calculated from the quadratic model with and without model error, as well as by the logarithmic, general, and hyperbolic tangent models. The average value of the largest Lyapunov exponent is estimated to be in the < 0.32; 0.41 > d−1 range for the ECMWF forecasting system; limit values of the predictability curves are estimated with lower theoretically derived values, and a new approach for the calculation of model error based on comparison of models is presented.

Process-Based Evaluation of Stochastic Perturbed Microphysics Parameterization Tendencies on Ensemble Forecasts of Heavy Rainfall Events

Stochastic model error schemes, such as the stochastic perturbed parameterization tendencies (SPPT) and independent SPPT (iSPPT) schemes, have become an increasingly accepted method to represent model error associated with uncertain subgrid-scale processes in ensemble prediction systems (EPSs). While much of the current literature focuses on the effects of these schemes on forecast skill, this research examines the physical processes by which iSPPT perturbations to the microphysics parameterization scheme yield variability in ensemble rainfall forecasts. Members of three 120-member Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model ensemble case studies, including two distinct heavy rain events over Taiwan and one over the northeastern United States, are ranked according to an area-averaged accumulated rainfall metric in order to highlight differences between high- and low-precipitation forecasts. In each case, high-precipitation members are characterized by a damping of the microphysics water vapor and temperature tendencies over the region of heaviest rainfall, while the opposite is true for low-precipitation members. Physically, the perturbations to microphysics tendencies have the greatest impact at the cloud-level and act to modify precipitation efficiency. To this end, the damping of tendencies in high-precipitation forecasts suppresses both the loss of water vapor due to condensation and the corresponding latent heat release, leading to grid-scale supersaturation. Conversely, amplified tendencies in low-precipitation forecasts yield both drying and increased positive buoyancy within clouds.

Robust UKF-based filtering for tracking a maneuvering hypersonic glide vehicle

To track a non-cooperative hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) without any precise information, an approach to the state estimation is presented based on a robust UKF-based filter (RUKFBF) in this paper. The HGV has an uncertain reentry motion because of unknown maneuvers which is a primary factor leading to degradation of tracking accuracy. Aiming at enhancing accuracy, the strong tracking algorithm (STA) is introduced to addressing the model error caused by a bank-reversal maneuver of HGV. Furthermore, the Huber technique is employed to deal with possible measurement model errors. In the RUKFBF, mutual interferences are suppressed between the STA and the Huber technique via two strategies. The one is that the calculation of the fading factor in the STA adopts an unmodified measurement noise covariance, and the other one is that two judgment criteria are proposed to limit large fading factors in the presence of measurement model errors. To simulate real tracking scenarios, the RUKFBF is tested through tracking a HGV trajectory considering a practical guidance strategy. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the RUKFBF in the presence of model errors and the observability of the estimated state.

Brief communication: An innovation-based estimation method for model error covariance in Kalman filters

We present a simple innovation-based model error covariance estimation method for Kalman filters. The method is based on Berry and Sauer (2013) and the simplification results from assuming known observation error covariance. We carry out experiments with a prescribed model error covariance using a Lorenz (1996) model and ensemble Kalman filter. The prescribed error covariance matrix is recovered with high accuracy.