Jae-Kyung E. Schemm

The NCEP Climate Forecast System Reanalysis

The NCEP Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) was completed for the 31-yr period from 1979 to 2009, in January 2010. The CFSR was designed and executed as a global, high-resolution coupled atmosphere–ocean–land surface–sea ice system to provide the best estimate of the state of these coupled domains over this period. The current CFSR will be extended as an operational, real-time product into the future. New features of the CFSR include 1) coupling of the atmosphere and ocean during the generation of the 6-h guess field, 2) an interactive sea ice model, and 3) assimilation of satellite radiances by the Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation (GSI) scheme over the entire period. The CFSR global atmosphere resolution is ~38 km (T382) with 64 levels extending from the surface to 0.26 hPa. The global oceans latitudinal spacing is 0.25° at the equator, extending to a global 0.5° beyond the tropics, with 40 levels to a depth of 4737 m. The global land surface model has four soil levels and the global sea ice m...

NCEP DYNAMICAL SEASONAL FORECAST SYSTEM 2000

The new National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) numerical seasonal forecast system is described in detail. The new system is aimed at a next-generation numerical seasonal prediction in which focus is placed on land processes, initial conditions, and ensemble methods, in addition to the tropical SST forcing. The atmospheric model physics is taken from the NCEP–National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) reanalysis model, which has more comprehensive land hydrology and improved physical processes. The model was further upgraded by introducing three new parameterization schemes: 1) the relaxed Arakawa–Schubert (RAS) convective parameterization, which improved middle latitude response to tropical heating; 2) Chous shortwave radiation, which corrected surface radiation fluxes; and 3) Chous longwave radiation scheme together with smoothed mean orography that reduced model warm bias. Atmospheric initial conditions were taken from the operational NCEP Global Data Assimilation System, allowing t...

Medium-Range Forecast Errors Associated with Active Episodes of the Madden-Julian Oscillation

Abstract Systematic forecast errors associated with active episodes of the tropical Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) are examined using five winters of dynamical extended range forecasts from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction reanalysis model. Active episodes of the MJO are identified as those periods when the amplitude of either of the first two empirical orthogonal functions of intraseasonally filtered outgoing longwave radiation, which efficiently capture the MJO, is large. Forecasts initialized during active episodes of the MJO are found not to capture the eastward propagation of the tropical precipitation and circulation anomalies associated with the MJO. Rather, the MJO-induced anomalies of precipitation and winds are systematically forecast to weaken and even retrograde. By about day 7 of the forecast the convectively coupled, tropical circulation anomalies produced by the MJO are largely gone. Systematic errors in the extratropical 200-mb streamfunction also fully develop by day 10....

Evaluation of MJO Forecast Skill from Several Statistical and Dynamical Forecast Models

This work examines the performance of Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) forecasts from NCEPs coupled and uncoupled general circulation models (GCMs) and statistical models. The forecast skill from these methods is evaluated in near-real time. Using a projection of El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-removed variables onto the principal patterns of MJO convection and upper- and lower-level circulations, MJO-related signals in the dynamical model forecasts are extracted. The operational NCEP atmosphere-ocean fully coupled Climate Forecast System (CFS) model has useful skill (.0.5 correlation) out to ;15 days when the initial MJO convection is located over the Indian Ocean. The skill of the CFS hindcast dataset for the period from 1995 to 2004 is nearly comparable to that from a lagged multiple linear regression model, which uses information from the previous five pentads of the leading two principal components (PCs). In contrast, the real-time analysis for the MJO forecast skill for the period from January 2005 to February 2006 using the lagged multiple linear regression modelisreducedto ;10-12days. However, theoperationalCFSforecastfor thisperiod is skillfulout to ;17 days for the winter season, implying that the coupled dynamical forecast has some usefulness in pre- dicting the MJO compared to the statistical model. It is shown that the coupled CFS model consistently, but only slightly, outperforms the uncoupled atmo- spheric model (by one to two days), indicating that only limited improvement is gained from the inclusion of the coupled air-sea interaction in the MJO forecast in this model. This slight improvement may be the result of the existence of a propagation barrier around the Maritime Continent and the far western Pacific in the NCEP Global Forecast System (GFS) and CFS models, as shown in several previous studies. This work also suggests that the higher horizontal resolution and finer initial data might contribute to improving the forecast skill, presumably as a result of an enhanced representation of the Maritime Continent region.

Climatology of Tropical Intraseasonal Convective Anomalies: 1979–2002

Tropical intraseasonal convective anomalies (TICA) have a central role in subseasonal changes in the coupled ocean‐atmosphere system, but the climatology of TICA events has not been properly documented. This study exploits 24 years of outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) data and a tracking algorithm to develop a climatology of eastward propagating TICA events. Three distinct types of TICA occurrences are documented according to their propagation characteristics. The first type (IND) is characterized by events that propagate in the Indian Ocean without significant influence in the western Pacific Ocean. The second and third types are associated with occurrences of the Madden‐Julian oscillation during boreal winters (MJO) and summers (ISO). The frequency of occurrence of TICA events is highest in April‐June and October‐December and lowest in July‐September. An analysis of the spatial and temporal characteristics reveals that MJO events tend to have the longest life cycle, greatest intensity, and largest variability inside the contiguous region of OLR anomaly. Given the data record of 24 years, the analysis of interannual occurrences of TICA events does not show statistically significant

The Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation Simulated in the NCEP Climate Forecast System: The Effect of Sea Surface Temperature

Abstract Observational evidence has indicated the important role of the interaction of the atmosphere with the sea surface in the development and maintenance of the tropical intraseasonal oscillation (ISO). However, improvements in ISO simulations with fully coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation models are limited and model dependent. This study further examines the effect of air–sea coupling and the basic-state sea surface temperature (SST) associated with the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) in a 21-yr free run with the recently developed NCEP coupled Climate Forecast System (CFS) model. For this, the CFS run is compared with an Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project–type long-term simulation forced by prescribed SST in the NCEP Global Forecast System (GFS) model and flux-corrected version of CFS (referred to as CFSA). The GFS run simulates significantly unorganized BSISO convection anomalies, which exhibit an erroneous standing oscillation. The CFS run with interactive air–sea ...

Influence of ENSO and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation on Drought over the United States

Abstract Composites based on observations and model outputs from the Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR) drought experiments were used to examine the impact of El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) on drought over the United States. Because drought implies persistent dryness, the 6-month standardized precipitation index, standardized runoff index, and soil moisture anomalies are used to represent drought. The experiments were performed by forcing an AGCM with prescribed sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) superimposed on the monthly mean SST climatology. Four model outputs from the NCEP Global Forecast System (GFS), NASA’s Seasonal-to-Interannual Prediction Project, version 1 (NSIPP1), GFDL’s global atmospheric model, version 2.1 (AM2.1), and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO)/NCAR Community Climate System Model, version 3 (CCM3) were analyzed in this study. Each run lasts from 36 to 51 yr. The impact of ENSO on drought over the Unit...

Sensitivity to horizontal resolution in the AGCM simulations of warm season diurnal cycle of precipitation over the united states and Northern Mexico

Abstract This study examines the sensitivity of the North American warm season diurnal cycle of precipitation to changes in horizontal resolution in three atmospheric general circulation models, with a primary focus on how the parameterized moist processes respond to improved resolution of topography and associated local/regional circulations on the diurnal time scale. It is found that increasing resolution (from approximately 2° to ½° in latitude–longitude) has a mixed impact on the simulated diurnal cycle of precipitation. Higher resolution generally improves the initiation and downslope propagation of moist convection over the Rockies and the adjacent Great Plains. The propagating signals, however, do not extend beyond the slope region, thereby likely contributing to a dry bias in the Great Plains. Similar improvements in the propagating signals are also found in the diurnal cycle over the North American monsoon region as the models begin to resolve the Gulf of California and the surrounding steep terr...

An Analysis of the Warm-Season Diurnal Cycle over the Continental United States and Northern Mexico in General Circulation Models

Abstract The diurnal cycle of warm-season rainfall over the continental United States and northern Mexico is analyzed in three global atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs) from NCEP, GFDL, and the NASA Global Modeling Assimilation Office (GMAO). The results for each model are based on an ensemble of five summer simulations forced with climatological sea surface temperatures. Although the overall patterns of time-mean (summer) rainfall and low-level winds are reasonably well simulated, all three models exhibit substantial regional deficiencies that appear to be related to problems with the diurnal cycle. Especially prominent are the discrepancies in the diurnal cycle of precipitation over the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains and adjacent Great Plains, including the failure to adequately capture the observed nocturnal peak. Moreover, the observed late afternoon–early evening eastward propagation of convection from the mountains into the Great Plains is not adequately simulated, contributing to...

A Statistical Forecast Model of Tropical Intraseasonal Convective Anomalies

Abstract Tropical intraseasonal convective anomalies (TICAs) play a significant role in the coupled ocean–atmosphere system and the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) is the primary mode of this variability. This study describes statistical forecast models of intraseasonal variations. Twenty-four years of outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and zonal components of the wind at 200 (U200) and 850 hPa (U850) are used. The models use the principal components (PCs) of combined EOF analysis of 20–90-day anomalies of OLR, U200, and U850 data. Forecast models are developed for each lead time from 1 to 10 pentads and for winter and summer seasons separately. The forecast models use a combination of the five most recent pentad values of the first five PCs of the combined EOF of (OLR, U200, U850) to predict the future values of a given PCK (k = 1, 5). The spatial structures are obtained by reconstructing the fields of OLR, U200, and U850 using the forecasts of PCK (k = 1, 5) and the associated EOFs. Verification with ind...