Mesoscale modeling of extreme coastal weather against sodar data – A case study

Abstract

Wind-profile measurements with MFAS SCINTEC sodar have been performed since 2008 at Ahtopol station (Sothern Black sea coast in Bulgaria). Based on data collected during the first 8 years of sodar operation, an extreme wind speed profile (reference profile) has been determined following the criteria of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for “rare” events. In this study we examine the ability of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to represent the observed evolution of the vertical structure of the wind field at a coastal site for one of the most challenging situations of high wind speed and sea breeze development. The selected period (17-18 September 2016) is characterized with southwesterly flow with recorded wind speed up to 16\u2005ms−1 and with 1 closed sea breeze cell within sodar range. The WRF is run with 4 different schemes for parametrisation of the atmospheric boundary layer. The results are important for choosing extreme-weather set up of the model.Wind-profile measurements with MFAS SCINTEC sodar have been performed since 2008 at Ahtopol station (Sothern Black sea coast in Bulgaria). Based on data collected during the first 8 years of sodar operation, an extreme wind speed profile (reference profile) has been determined following the criteria of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for “rare” events. In this study we examine the ability of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to represent the observed evolution of the vertical structure of the wind field at a coastal site for one of the most challenging situations of high wind speed and sea breeze development. The selected period (17-18 September 2016) is characterized with southwesterly flow with recorded wind speed up to 16\u2005ms−1 and with 1 closed sea breeze cell within sodar range. The WRF is run with 4 different schemes for parametrisation of the atmospheric boundary layer. The results are important for choosing extreme-weather set up of the model.