The sea surface imprints of Atmospheric Vortex Street (AVS) off Aleutian Volcanic Islands, Alaska were observed in two RADARSAT-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images separated by about 11 hours. In both images, three pairs of distinctive vortices shedding in the lee side of two volcanic mountains can be clearly seen. The length and width of the vortex street are about 60-70 km and 20 km, resp...

A limited-area three-dimensional variational data assimilation (3DVAR) system applicable to both synoptic and mesoscale numerical weather prediction is described. The system is designed for use in time-critical realtime applications and is freely available to the data assimilation community for general research. The unique features of this implementation of 3DVAR include (a) an analysis space r...

[1] Using the AIRS retrieved temperature and humidity profiles, the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) influence on the formation of Hurricane Isabel (2003) is simulated numerically with the MM5 model. The warmth and dryness of the SAL (the thermodynamic effect) is assimilated by use of the nudging technique, which enables the model thermodynamic state to be relaxed to the profiles of the AIRS retrieved d...

[1] Transport of boundary layer air to the free troposphere by cyclones during NASA’s Transport and Chemical Evolution over the Pacific (TRACE-P) experiment is investigated. Airstreams responsible for boundary layer venting are diagnosed using results from a high-resolution meteorological model (MM5) together with in situ and remotely sensed chemical data. Hourly wind data from the MM5 are used...

Accurate numerical simulations of the complex wind flows in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) can be an invaluable tool for interpreting the MILAGRO field campaign results. This paper uses three methods to evaluate numerical simulations of basin meteorology using the MM5 and WRF models: statistical comparisons with observations, “Concentration Field Analysis” (CFA) using measured air pol...

This article describes the development of tools for routine 4-dimensional variational data assimilation of Global Positioning System Slant Total Delay (STD) data in the framework of the MM5 system at the Institute of Physics and Meteorology of the University of Hohenheim. The Slant Total Delay forward operator is introduced which allows model validation and the assimilation in the Message-Passi...

Abstract. We describe the development of a non-hydrostatic version regional climate model RegCM4, called RegCM4-NH, for use at convection-permitting resolutions. The dynamical core Mesoscale Model MM5 is introduced in with some modifications to increase stability and applicability long-term simulations. Newly available explicit microphysics schemes are also described, three case studies intense...

The response of glaciers to changing climate is explored with an atmosphere/glacier hierarchical modeling approach, in which global simulations are downscaled with an Arctic MM5 regional model which provides temperature and precipitation inputs to a glacier mass-balance model. Themass balances of Hubbard and Bering Glaciers, south-central Alaska, USA, are simulated for October 1994–September 20...