Machine-learning informed macro-meteorological models for the near-maritime environment

Abstract

Macro-meteorological models predict optical turbulence as a function of weather data. Existing models often struggle to accurately predict the rapid fluctuations in C n 2 in near-maritime environments. Seven months of C n 2 field measurements were collected along an 890 m scintillometer link over the Severn River in Annapolis, Maryland. This time series was augmented with local meteorological measurements to capture bulk-atmospheric weather measurements. The prediction accuracy of existing macro-meteorological models was analyzed in a range of conditions. Next, machine-learning techniques were applied to train new macro-meteorological models using the measured C n 2 and measured environmental parameters. Finally, the C n 2 predictions generated by the existing macro-meteorological models and new machine-learning informed models were compared for four representative days from the data set. These new models, under most conditions, demonstrated a higher overall C n 2 prediction accuracy, and were better able to track optical turbulence. Further tuning and machine-learning architectural changes could further improve model performance.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Apr 05, 2021
Source ID
10.1364/ao.416680

Entities

People

  • Charles Nelson
  • Christopher Jellen
  • Cody Brownell
  • John Burkhardt
  • Miles Oakley

Organizations

  • Office of Naval Research
  • United States Naval Academy

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Agent-Based Social Robotics and Mobile-Assisted Learning in Virtual Environments.
  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Spectroscopy.

Technology Areas

  • AI & ML
  • AI & ML - Bayesian Inference
  • AI & ML - Neural Networks