Cloud Forecast Fields Comparison Test.

Abstract

This technical note reports a study of the comparative cloud forecast skill of several numerical analysis/forecast systems at the Air Force Global Weather Central (AFGWC) and the National Meteorological Center (NMC). The study compared gridded cloud forecasts derived from AFGWC's trajectory cloud forecast model (5LAYER) and NMC's 7-Layer moist primitive equation model (7LHFM) during the period August to September 1979. The study also measured the sensitivity of the 5LAYER model to the accuracy of input forecast winds (used to compute trajectories). The results show that 5LAYER and 7LHFM-derived cloud forecasts differ appreciably owing to fundamental differences in the methods used by the two centers to initialize their respective model moisture fields. During the first 24-hour forecast period, 5LAYER consistently produces more accurate cloud forecasts than the 7LHFM, because satellite and surface cloud observations are used systematically and globally in the derivation of 5LAYER initial moisture fields.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1982
Accession Number
ADA135556

Entities

People

  • K. E. Mitchell

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Air Force
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Cloud Cover
  • Clouds
  • Condensation
  • Conversion
  • Data Sets
  • Databases
  • Delphi Method
  • Equations
  • Meteorological Satellites
  • Northern Hemisphere
  • Numerical Analysis
  • Technical Information Centers
  • Trajectories
  • Weather Forecasting

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science/Meteorology
  • Computational Modeling and Simulation

Technology Areas

  • Space