ASSIMILATION OF FIXED SCREEN-HEIGHT OBSERVATIONS IN A PARAMETERIZED PBL

Joshua Hacker and Chris Snyder, NCAR

In-situ surface-layer observations are a rich data source that could be more effectively utilized in NWP applications. If properly assimilated, data from existing mesonets could improve initial conditions and lower boundary conditions, leading to the possibility of improved simulation and short-range forecasts of slope flows, sea breezes, convective initiation, and other PBL circulations.

A variance-covariance climatology is constructed by extracting a representative column from real-time mesoscale forecasts over the Southern Great Plains, and used to explore the potential for estimating the state of the PBL by assimilating surface observations. A parameterized 1-D PBL model and an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) approach to assimilation are used to test this potential. Analysis focuses on understanding how effectively the EnKF can spread the surface observations vertically to constrain the state of the PBL model. Results confirm that assimilating surface observations can substantially improve the state of a modeled PBL. Experiments to estimate the moisture availability parameter through the data assimilation system show that the EnKF is a viable tool for parameter estimation, and may help mitigate model error in forecasting and simulating the PBL.

Finally, I will present recent results from assimilating synthetic profiler observations into 3D WRF simulations with 3 km grid spacing. They demonstrate the mesoscale isotropy and inhomogeneity of the PBL, and show positive impact