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Utilizing local WRF with MODIS SST data to assess weather impact in the Houston/Galveston region. Evaluation includes wind/temperature analysis, reflectivity patterns, nearshore waters, and surface temperatures. Planned expansions and historical case studies ahead.
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Assessing the Impact of MODIS SST Utilizing a local WRF National Weather Service Houston/Galveston Lance Wood Science and Operations Officer
Workstation Cluster: Two Dell Precision 690 Workstations Intel Quad Xeon Processor with four 2.33 GHz CPUs (8 CPUs) RAM: 4 GB OS: RHEL 5.4 Model: WRF EMS v.3.0.1 beta2 Dimension: 129 X 129 Spacing: 4 KM Levels: 35 Length: 30 HR Timestep: 24 seconds Initialized with: NAM218 2 runs every 6 hours (00, 06, 12, 18 UTC) First run utilizes MODIS SST Second run utilizes RTG SST HR Run time: 175 minutes Microphysics: Lin et al. Planetary Boundary Layer: Yonsei University Scheme HGX Local WRF Configuration
WRF at HGX • Began utilizing operationally in AWIPS in May 2009 • Began two runs (MODIS vs. No MODIS or RTG-SST-HR-Analysis) in late December 2009 for SPoRT assessment • Began creating images for web on developmental server late January 2010 (Thanks MLB!). http://wwwdev.crh.noaa.gov/hgx/wrf/hgxmodels.php • Plan to make WRF images available on web. • Plan to expand domain for CWSU and WFO LCH • Plan to output text files for individual stations for verification purposes.
Winter Dec 09 – Feb 10 Examples: • Focused on evaluating winds/temps. • Looked at different flow regimes (onshore - WAA, offshore- CAA, near coast surface low development ). • Have archived images that I am still assessing (1/14/2010 to present). • Work is still preliminary, and is continuing.
Some Geography… NW Gulf Continental Shelf Shallow near-shore waters
10 UTC F4 HR 50 Onshore Flow WAA CaseJan. 22 53 57 48 49 50 53 57 48 49
16 UTC F10 HR 65 61 66 59 61 65 61 59 66 61
22 UTC F16 HR 73 64 71 61 70 73 64 61 71 70
04 UTC F22 HR 66 63 68 62 67 66 63 68 62 67
10 UTC F28 HR 67 63 62 67 66 67 63 62 67 66
SFC Low Development Jan. 16 55 56 55 56 54 54 49 49 3 UTC F3 HR
SFC Low Development Jan. 16 53 55 53 55 54 54 49 49 6 UTC F6 HR
SFC Low Development Jan. 16 53 56 53 56 54 54 48 48 9 UTC F9 HR
SFC Low Development Jan. 16 51 55 51 55 51 51 48 48 12 UTC F12 HR
SFC Low Development Jan. 16 48 51 48 51 48 48 47 47 15 UTC F15 HR
SFC Low Development Jan. 16 49 49 50 50 47 47 52 52 18 UTC F18 HR
SFC Low Development Jan. 16 50 50 50 50 49 49 55 55 21 UTC F21 HR
SFC Low Development Feb 12 41 41 49 49 50 50 49 49 51 51 0 UTC F6 HR
SFC Low Development Feb 12 39 39 47 47 48 48 49 49 55 55 3 UTC F9 HR
SFC Low Development Feb 12 38 38 40 42 40 42 39 39 40 40 6 UTC F12 HR
SFC Low Development Feb 12 37 37 39 39 40 40 49 49 55 55 9 UTC F15 HR
SFC Low Development Feb 12 38 38 39 39 40 40 38 38 40 40 12 UTC F18 HR
SFC Low Development Feb 12 37 37 39 39 40 40 38 38 39 39 15 UTC F21 HR
Reflectivity pattern with offshore precipitation - Feb 19 MODIS (image) vs. No MODIS
Reflectivity pattern with offshore precipitation - Feb 19 Actual (image) vs. No MODIS
Reflectivity pattern with offshore convection – Feb 26 MODIS (image) vs. No MODIS
HGX Reflectivity – Feb 26 Actual
Reflectivity pattern with offshore convection – Feb 26 MODIS
Reflectivity pattern with offshore convection – Feb 26 No MODIS
What I have observed this Winter: WAA pattern: WRF inland temps were too cool and generally cooler with MODIS SST runs as compared to the runs without MODIS. Over the nearshore waters, surface temps with the MODIS SST data runs were generally too cool and the NO MODIS runs generally produced better surface temp results. Behind strong cold fronts (CAA): WRF temps appeared as good or better over water with MODIS SST, but were still too warm. Winds were very similar in both MODIS and NO MODIS. Nearshoresurface low development: Temps appeared to be as accurate, or more accurate across nearshorewaters and coastal stations with MODIS SST data included. Reflectivity: There was a slightly different reflectivity forecast over the water and inland areas when the runs (MODIS vs. NO MODIS) were compared.
Going Forward Historical Cases: Would like to run the WRF for a couple of heavy rainfall events (April 18 2009). Warm Season Assessment: Sea/Bay Breeze and Convective Initialization Reflectivity patterns in general Use text output to regularly verify temps/dew points at coastal/ near coastal sites. Thanks for support from Mark Keehn (HGX ITO), Scott Overpeck (HGX WRF focal point), and Bob Rozumalski (NWS Nat’l SOO) Questions ????