P4       Testing the radial wind data assimilation for 3-km high resolution convective forecasts.

Zhou, Chunhua, NCAR, Ming Hu, Guoqing Ge, NOAA/ESRL, Ying Zhang, Michael Kavulich, and Lindsay Blank, NCAR

To facilitate transitions between the research and operations, the Developmental Testbed Center (DTC) continues to conduct testing and evaluation of the GSI (Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation) Hybrid Ensemble-Variational system for the regional 3-km High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR). This activity supports the wider goal to improve the convective scale and cloud-resolving numerical weather predictions at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Earth System Research Laboratory (NOAA/ESRL). This study uses a HRRR system that is functionally similar to the operational HRRR but with a reduced domain from the CONUS (Continental US) to the central US, with all simulations being run on the NCAR supercomputer Cheyenne. The model runs with hourly updates of the initial and boundary conditions from the archived 13-km Rapid Refresh (RAP) operational runs. A number of runs are conducted using different radial wind (RW) data (NCEP processed NEXRAD Level 2 BUFR RW data and Dual-Pol Quality Controlled RW) and various configurations within the GSI. Verification will be conducted for these experiments using the Model Evaluation Tools (MET). Findings of this work and the forecast impact of different assimilation methods of the radar winds will be presented.