Mesoscale assimilation of rain-affected observations

Clark Amerault; Xiaolei Zou; James Doyle

doi:10.1117/12.740508

13 September 2007 Mesoscale assimilation of rain-affected observations

Clark Amerault, Xiaolei Zou, James Doyle

Proceedings Volume 6685, Assimilation of Remote Sensing and In Situ Data in Modern Numerical Weather and Environmental Prediction Models; 66850G (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.740508
Event: Optical Engineering + Applications, 2007, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Important issues involving the assimilation of rain-affected observations using an adjoint mesoscale modeling system are addressed in this study. The adjoint model of the explicit moist physics parameterization is included in the modeling system, which allows for the calculation of gradients with respect to the initial hydrometeor concentrations (cloud water/ice, rain, snow, and graupel). Cloud-scale idealized four dimensional variational data assimilation experiments demonstrate the benefit of assimilating precipitation information and the ability of the adjoint model to produce useful gradients with respect to the hydrometeor fields. The agreement between model fields and observations is greater (especially for the early forecast hydrometeor fields) when rainy observations are incorporated into the assimilation process versus only assimilating conventional model data (windspeeds, temperature, pressure). Additional data assimilation experiments are conducted with microwave radiances. These data improve the initial precipitation structure of a tropical cyclone. These experiments are promising steps for the incorporation of rain-affected observations in operational data assimilation systems.

Citation Download Citation

Clark Amerault, Xiaolei Zou, and James Doyle "Mesoscale assimilation of rain-affected observations", Proc. SPIE 6685, Assimilation of Remote Sensing and In Situ Data in Modern Numerical Weather and Environmental Prediction Models, 66850G (13 September 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.740508

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