{"title":"A Multiscale Four-dimensional Variational Data Assimilation Scheme: A Squall Line Case Study","authors":"Tao Sun, Juanzhen Sun, Yaodeng Chen, Haiqin Chen","doi":"10.1175/mwr-d-22-0292.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/mwr-d-22-0292.1","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This study presents a multiscale four-dimensional variational data assimilation (MS-4DVar) scheme that aims to assimilate multiscale information from conventional and radar observations. The MS-4DVar scheme separately assimilates conventional and radar data in different outer loop iterations of an incremental 4DVar with varied resolutions in the tangent linear and adjoint models (TLM/ADM) and time window lengths in the 4DVar. The MS-4DVar scheme was evaluated through a series of single observation tests and several cycled assimilation and forecasting experiments for a real squall line case. Our results indicated that different TLM/ADM resolutions and time window lengths applied to the conventional and radar observations improved the multiscale analysis. In addition, the MS-4DVar scheme was more efficient than the common 4DVar because of the low-resolution TLM/ADM used for conventional data and the shortened time window length for radar data. Verification of the squall line forecasts suggested that the MS-4DVar scheme improved the hourly accumulated precipitation and radar reflectivity forecast skills and reduced the forecast errors of both largescale environmental and convective-scale states. Further diagnosis revealed that the improvement of precipitation forecast skill was attributable to the stronger cold pool, deeper saturated water vapor layer, and stronger updraft of the simulated squall line system, as well as a more favorable convective environment.","PeriodicalId":18824,"journal":{"name":"Monthly Weather Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45586659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A three-dimensional hail trajectory clustering technique","authors":"R. Adams-Selin","doi":"10.1175/mwr-d-22-0345.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/mwr-d-22-0345.1","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Recent advances in hail trajectory modeling regularly produce data sets containing millions of hail trajectories. Because hail growth within a storm cannot be entirely separated from the structure of the trajectories producing it, a method to condense the multidimensionality of the trajectory information into a discrete number of features analyzable by humans is necessary. This article presents a three-dimensional trajectory clustering technique that is designed to group trajectories that have similar updraft-relative structures and orientations. The new technique is an application of a two-dimensional method common in the data mining field. Hail trajectories (or “parent” trajectories) are partitioned into segments before they are clustered using a modified version of DBSCAN. Parent trajectories with segments that are members of at least two common clusters are then grouped into parent trajectory clusters before output.\u0000This multi-step method has several advantages. Hail trajectories with structural similarities along only portions of their length, e.g., sourced from different locations around the updraft before converging to a common pathway, can still be grouped. However, the physical information inherent in the full length of the trajectory is retained, unlike methods that cluster trajectory segments alone. The conversion of trajectories to an updraft-relative space also allows trajectories separated in time to be clustered.\u0000Once the final output trajectory clusters are identified, a method for calculating a representative trajectory for each cluster is proposed. Cluster distributions of hailstone and environmental characteristics at each timestep in the representative trajectory can also be calculated.","PeriodicalId":18824,"journal":{"name":"Monthly Weather Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44017838","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zhaoyang Huo, Yubao Liu, Yueqin Shi, Baojun Chen, Hang Fan, Yang Li
{"title":"An investigation on joint data assimilation of a radar network and ground-based profiling platforms for forecasting convective storms","authors":"Zhaoyang Huo, Yubao Liu, Yueqin Shi, Baojun Chen, Hang Fan, Yang Li","doi":"10.1175/mwr-d-22-0332.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/mwr-d-22-0332.1","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000A summer convective precipitation case occurring in eastern China on July 16-17, 2020, is selected to investigate the impact of joint assimilation of ground-based profiling platforms and weather radars on forecasting convective storms using observational system simulation experiments (OSSEs). The simulated profiling platforms include Doppler wind lidar (DWL), wind profiler (WP), and microwave radiometer (MWR). Results show that joint assimilation of WP and radar data produces a better analysis of convective dynamical structure than joint assimilation of DWL and radar data, since WP detects deeper layer winds. Joint assimilation of MWR and radar data enables rapid adjustment of temperature and humidity and thus, avoids the potential errors introduced by the latent heat term of the radar diabatic initialization in the early stage. Profiling observations in a horizontal spacing of 80 km provide fewer benefits for convective forecasting, while reducing the spacing to 40 km can dramatically improve model analysis and forecasts. Joint assimilation of multiple profiling observations in a 20 km horizontal spacing with radar data exhibits a beneficial synergistic effect and mitigates “the ramp-down issue” during the forecast stage. Assimilating profiling observations with an update interval less than 30 mins does not have as pronounced an effect on convective forecasts as horizontal spacing. Furthermore, assimilating profiling observations at a 20 km horizontal spacing can obtain accurate mesoscale background environment and forecast storms with an ability comparable to radar data assimilation. This work emphasizes the need to consider implementing a joint mesoscale detection system that incorporates weather radars and profiling observations for leveraging convective storm forecasting.","PeriodicalId":18824,"journal":{"name":"Monthly Weather Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45356538","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Climatological Comparison of the Arctic Environment and Arctic Cyclones between Periods of Low and High Forecast Skill of the Synoptic-Scale Flow","authors":"K. Biernat, D. Keyser, L. Bosart","doi":"10.1175/mwr-d-22-0318.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/mwr-d-22-0318.1","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The prediction of weather conditions in the Arctic is important to human activities in the Arctic. Arctic cyclones (ACs), which are extratropical cyclones that originate within the Arctic or move into the Arctic from lower latitudes, can be associated with hazardous weather conditions that may adversely affect human activities. The purpose of this study is to increase understanding of processes that influence the forecast skill of the synoptic-scale flow over the Arctic and of ACs. The 11-member NOAA Global Ensemble Forecast System (GEFS) reforecast dataset version 2 is utilized to identify periods of low and high forecast skill of the synoptic-scale flow over the Arctic, hereafter referred to as low-skill and high-skill periods, respectively, during the summers of 2007–2017, and to evaluate the forecast skill of ACs during these respective periods. The ERA-Interim dataset is used to examine characteristics of the Arctic environment and characteristics of ACs during low-skill and high-skill periods. The Arctic environment tends to be characterized by more vigorous baroclinic processes and latent heating during low-skill periods compared to high-skill periods. ACs occur more frequently over much of the Arctic, tend to be stronger, and tend to be located in regions of larger lower-tropospheric baroclinicity, lower-to-midtropospheric Eady growth rate (EGR), and latent heating, during low-skill periods compared to high-skill periods. ACs during low-skill periods that are characterized by low forecast skill of intensity tend to be relatively strong and tend to be located in regions of relatively large lower-tropospheric baroclinicity, lower-to-midtropospheric EGR, and latent heating.","PeriodicalId":18824,"journal":{"name":"Monthly Weather Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45508791","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Soil Moisture Influences on Summer Arctic Cyclones and their associated Poleward Moisture Transport","authors":"M. Fearon, J. Doyle, Peter M. Finocchio","doi":"10.1175/mwr-d-22-0264.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/mwr-d-22-0264.1","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Moisture transport into the Arctic is an important modulator for clouds, radiative forcing, and sea-ice change. Transport events, namely moist-air intrusions, are often associated with Arctic cyclones and, during the summer season, we find that the high-latitude land surface is a significant moisture source for intrusions. Summer Arctic cyclones typically originate from the surrounding continental interior and shorelines where, during the early stages of intensification, the warm sector experiences strong latent heat fluxes from the land surface. In this study, we use multiyear reanalysis data and back-trajectory calculations to quantify the linkages between key continental moisture source regions and water vapor within cyclone-induced intrusions. We also conduct regional soil moisture sensitivity experiments using the Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS®) to diagnose the land-surface moisture contribution for an August 2016 Arctic cyclone case. Results from reanalysis show that land regions on average account for more than 30% of the total moist-air intrusion flux at 70° N during summer. COAMPS case-study experiments reaffirm this result showing that land-surface moisture flux on average accounts for 30% of the intrusion water vapor content. COAMPS experiments further reveal that land-surface moisture impacts cyclone intensification and moist-air intrusion cloud water vapor. When the regional soil moisture is reduced, intrusion cloud cover is also reduced resulting in an increase in the surface solar radiation >90 Wm-2. These results demonstrate that the high-latitude land surface plays an important role in the Arctic summer hydrological cycle, and may be increasingly impactful as traditionally cold or frozen soils warm.","PeriodicalId":18824,"journal":{"name":"Monthly Weather Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45899381","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ocean Temperature Observations in Hurricane Dorian (2019)","authors":"Casey R. Densmore, E. Sanabia, S. Jayne","doi":"10.1175/mwr-d-22-0271.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/mwr-d-22-0271.1","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Upper ocean temperatures from 72 Airborne eXpendable BathyThermographs (AXBTs) collected during Air Force Hurricane Hunter flights into Hurricane Dorian (2019) over a 72-hour period are examined. Three transects collected behind the storm reveal increased cross-track sea surface temperature gradient magnitudes as Dorian intensified to a category-5 hurricane and slowed while approaching the Bahamas. The cold wake, evident in vertical and horizontal cross sections from in-situ and satellite sensors, appears as an expected response to tropical cyclone passage. Atypical, however, is the 2°C surface cooling observed over 36 hours in a pair of transects ahead of hurricane force winds in Dorian, likely due to changes in the tropical cyclone’s translation speed and direction and/or proximity to the Gulf Stream and continental shelf. Co-located AXBT pairs document a dynamical regime shift from mixing to upwelling as Dorian slows and turns. Relationships between time-integrated wind stress and sea surface temperature indicate track-relative differences varying with storm translation speed and heading changes, paralleling the shift in cooling dynamics.","PeriodicalId":18824,"journal":{"name":"Monthly Weather Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48602905","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Improvements of Lagrangian data assimilation tested in the Gulf of Mexico","authors":"Junjie Dong, Luyu Sun, J. Carton, S. Penny","doi":"10.1175/mwr-d-22-0202.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/mwr-d-22-0202.1","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This study extends initial work by Sun and Penny et al. (2019, 2022) to explore the inclusion of path information from surface drifters using an augmented-state Lagrangian Data Assimilation based on the Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter (LETKF-LaDA) with vertical localization to improve analysis of the ocean. The region of interest is the Gulf of Mexico during the passage of Hurricane Isaac in summer 2012. Results from experiments with a regional ocean model at eddy-permitting and eddy-resolving model resolutions are used to quantify improvements to the analysis of sea surface velocity, SST, and sea surface height in a data assimilation system. The data assimilation system assimilates surface drifter positions, as well as vertical profiles of temperature and salinity. Data were used from drifters deployed as a part of the Grand Lagrangian Deployment beginning July 20, 2012. Comparison of experiment results shows that at both eddy-permitting and eddy-resolving horizontal resolutions Lagrangian assimilation of drifter positions significantly improves analysis of the ocean state responding to hurricane conditions. These results, which should be applicable to other tropical oceans such as the Bay of Bengal, open new avenues for estimating ocean initial conditions to improve tropical cyclone forecasting.","PeriodicalId":18824,"journal":{"name":"Monthly Weather Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45076330","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R. Sobash, D. Gagne, Charlie Becker, D. Ahijevych, Gabrielle Gantos, C. Schwartz
{"title":"Diagnosing Storm Mode with Deep Learning in Convection-Allowing Models","authors":"R. Sobash, D. Gagne, Charlie Becker, D. Ahijevych, Gabrielle Gantos, C. Schwartz","doi":"10.1175/mwr-d-22-0342.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/mwr-d-22-0342.1","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000While convective storm mode is explicitly depicted in convection-allowing model (CAM) output, subjectively diagnosing mode in large volumes of CAM forecasts can be burdensome. In this work, four machine learning (ML) models were trained to probabilistically classify CAM storms into one of three modes: supercells, quasi-linear convective systems, and disorganized convection. The four ML models included a dense neural network (DNN), logistic regression (LR), a convolutional neural network (CNN) and semi-supervised CNN-Gaussian mixture model (GMM). The DNN, CNN, and LR were trained with a set of hand-labeled CAM storms, while the semi-supervised GMM used updraft helicity and storm size to generate clusters which were then hand labeled. When evaluated using storms withheld from training, the four classifiers had similar ability to discriminate between modes, but the GMM had worse calibration. The DNN and LR had similar objective performance to the CNN, suggesting that CNN-based methods may not be needed for mode classification tasks. The mode classifications from all four classifiers successfully approximated the known climatology of modes in the U.S., including a maximum in supercell occurrence in the U.S. Central Plains. Further, the modes also occurred in environments recognized to support the three different storm morphologies. Finally, storm mode provided useful information about hazard type, e.g., storm reports were most likely with supercells, further supporting the efficacy of the classifiers. Future applications, including the use of objective CAM mode classifications as a novel predictor in ML systems, could potentially lead to improved forecasts of convective hazards.","PeriodicalId":18824,"journal":{"name":"Monthly Weather Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42511835","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Demonstrating the Potential Impacts of Assimilating FY-4A Visible Radiances on Forecasts of Cloud and Precipitation with a Localized Particle Filter","authors":"Yongbo Zhou, Yubao Liu, Wei Han","doi":"10.1175/mwr-d-22-0133.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/mwr-d-22-0133.1","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The Advanced Geostationary Radiation Imager (AGRI) on board the Fengyun-4A (FY-4A) satellite provides visible radiances that contain critical information on clouds and precipitation. In this study, the impact of assimilating FY-4A/AGRI all-sky visible radiances on the simulation of a convective system was evaluated with an observing system simulation experiment (OSSE) using a localized particle filter (PF). The localized PF was implemented into the Data Assimilation Research Testbed (DART) coupled with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model. The results of a 2-day data assimilation (DA) experiment generated encouraging outcome at a synoptic scale. Assimilating FY-4A/AGRI visible radiances with the localized PF significantly improved the analysis and forecast of cloud water path (CWP), cloud coverage, rain rate, and rainfall areas. In addition, some positive impacts were produced on the temperature and water vapor mixing ratio in the vicinity of cloudy regions. Sensitivity studies indicated that the best results were achieved by the localized PF configured with a localization distance that is equivalent to the model grid spacing (20 km) and with an adequately short cycling interval (30 min). However, the localized PF could not improve cloud vertical structures and cloud phases due to a lack of related information in the visible radiances. Moreover, the localized PF was compared with the ensemble adjustment Kalman filter (EAKF) and it was indicated that the localized PF outperformed EAKF even when the number of ensemble members was doubled for the latter, indicating a great potential of the localized PF in assimilating visible radiances.","PeriodicalId":18824,"journal":{"name":"Monthly Weather Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49434895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Histories of well-documented Maritime Cyclones as Portrayed by an Automated Tracking Method","authors":"Paul Roebber, K. Grise, J. Gyakum","doi":"10.1175/mwr-d-22-0287.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/mwr-d-22-0287.1","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This study examines extratropical cyclone tracks, central pressure, and maximum intensification rates from a widely used automated cyclone tracking scheme and compares them to the manual tracking of five well-known North Atlantic cyclones whose histories are available in the refereed literature. The automated tracking scheme is applied to sea level pressure data from four different reanalyses of varying levels of sophistication to test the sensitivity of the results to input data resolution and quality. Further, we test the tracking scheme using lower-tropospheric vorticity obtained from the most recent reanalysis (ERA5) for four of these cyclone events. Substantial discrepancies in cyclone position, intensity, and maximum intensification rates exist between the manual tracking and the automated tracking and are not eliminated by using higher resolution reanalyses or by “turning off” the spatial smoothing feature of the automated tracking scheme (needed to reduce spurious cyclone detections). The results point to a particular problem in detecting weaker and earlier stage cyclones and confirm findings from studies that have examined a broad range of cyclone tracking schemes for a range of reanalyses. Notably, this early cyclone stage often involves a smaller-scale secondary cyclogenesis or cyclone wave, which are detected by the automated scheme only after subsequent growth in the ensuing 6–12 hours. It is known that these early stages are critical for a comprehensive understanding of rapid intensification events. A discussion of possible future solutions to this problem is presented.","PeriodicalId":18824,"journal":{"name":"Monthly Weather Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47256355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}