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Impact of Assimilation of Conventional and Satellite Radiance GTS Observations on Simulation of Mesoscale Convective System Over Southeast India Using WRF-3DVar

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Abstract

The primary goal of present study is to investigate the impact of assimilation of conventional and satellite radiance observations in simulating the mesoscale convective system (MCS) formed over south east India. An assimilation methodology based on Weather Research and Forecasting model three dimensional variational data assimilation is considered. Few numerical experiments are carried out to examine the individual and combined impact of conventional and non-conventional (satellite radiance) observations. After the successful inclusion of additional observations, strong analysis increments of temperature and moisture fields are noticed and contributed to significant improvement in model’s initial fields. The resulting model simulations are able to successfully reproduce the prominent synoptic features responsible for the initiation of MCS. Among all the experiments, the final experiment in which both conventional and satellite radiance observations assimilated has showed considerable impact on the prediction of MCS. The location, genesis, intensity, propagation and development of rain bands associated with the MCS are simulated reasonably well. The biases of simulated temperature, moisture and wind fields at surface and different pressure levels are reduced. Thermodynamic, dynamic and vertical structure of convective cells associated with the passage of MCS are well captured. Spatial distribution of rainfall is fairly reproduced and comparable to TRMM observations. It is demonstrated that incorporation of conventional and satellite radiance observations improved the local and synoptic representation of temperature, moisture fields from surface to different levels of atmosphere. This study highlights the importance of assimilation of conventional and satellite radiances in improving the models initial conditions and simulation of MCS.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank India Meteorological Department (IMD), Delhi for providing High Performance Computing facilities to carry out this work. WRF USERS page is greatly acknowledged for making WRF model freely accessible to the user community. Authors gratefully acknowledge Dr. A. Jayaraman, Director NARL for his support in providing necessary observations to carry out this work. Special thanks to Dr. S B Thampi, Doppler Weather Radar Division, India Meteorological Department (IMD), Chennai, India for providing necessary support in archiving the DWR data. The insitu observations and DWR data utilised in this study can be available on special request at http://www.narl.gov.in and http://www.imd.gov.in, respectively. We acknowledge NCEP for providing GFS analysis and GTS observations. GMAO and NASA GES DISC teams are acknowledged for MERRA and TRMM datasets. Authors are thankful to anonymous reviewers and editor for their constructive comments and suggestions.

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  1. Department of Space, National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Gadanki, 517112, India

    A. Madhulatha

  2. Ministry of Earth Sciences, New Delhi, 110003, India

    M. Rajeevan

  3. India Meterological Department, New Delhi, 110003, India

    S. K. Roy Bhowmik & A. K. Das

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  1. A. Madhulatha
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Madhulatha, A., Rajeevan, M., Bhowmik, S.K.R. et al. Impact of Assimilation of Conventional and Satellite Radiance GTS Observations on Simulation of Mesoscale Convective System Over Southeast India Using WRF-3DVar. Pure Appl. Geophys. 175, 479–500 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-017-1689-5

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