Reima Eresmaa

Doppler radar radial winds in HIRLAM. Part II: optimizing the super-observation processing

Abstract Doppler radar radial wind observations are modelled in numerical weather prediction (NWP) within observation errors which consist of instrumental, modelling and representativeness errors. The systematic and random modelling errors can be reduced through a careful design of the observation operator (Part I). The impact of the random instrumental and representativeness errors can be decreased by optimizing the processing of the so-called super-observations (spatial averages of raw measurements; Part II). The super-observation processing is experimentally optimized in this article by determining the optimal resolution for the super-observations for differentNWPmodel resolutions. A 1-month experiment with the HIRLAM data assimilation and forecasting system is used for radial wind data monitoring and for generating observation minus background (OmB) differences. The OmB statistics indicate that the super-observation processing reduces the standard deviation of the radial wind speedOmBdifference, while themean vectorwindOmBdifference tends to increase. The optimal parameter settings correspond at a measurement range of 50 km (100 km) to an averaging area of 1.7 km2 (7.3 km2). In conclusion, an accurate and computationally feasible observation operator for the Doppler radar radial wind observations is developed (Part I) and a super-observation processing system is optimized (Part II).

Doppler radar radial winds in HIRLAM. Part I: observation modelling and validation

Abstract An observation operator for Doppler radar radial wind measurements is developed further in this article, based on the earlier work and considerations of the measurement characteristic. The elementary observation operator treats radar observations as point measurements at pre-processed observation heights. Here, modelling of the radar pulse volume broadening in vertical and the radar pulse path bending due to refraction is included to improve the realism of the observation modelling. The operator is implemented into the High Resolution Limited Area Model (HIRLAM) limited area numerical weather prediction (NWP) system. A data set of circa 133 000 radial wind measurements is passively monitored against theHIRLAM six-hourly background values in a 1-month experiment.No data assimilation experiments are performed at this stage. A new finding is that the improved modelling reduces the mean observation minus background (OmB) vector wind difference at ranges below 55 km, and the standard deviation of the radial wind OmB difference at ranges over 25 km. In conclusion, a more accurate and still computationally feasible observation operator is developed. The companion paper (Part II) considers optimal super-observation processing of Doppler radar radial winds for HIRLAM, with general applicability in NWP.

Estimation of Spatial Global Positioning System Zenith Delay observation error covariance

In this paper, we present new methods and estimates of the spatial (horizontal) covariance of the ground-based Global Positioning System Zenith Delay observation errors. An algorithm is developed which enables estimation of the observation error covariance as a linear combination of innovation covariances of Zenith Total Delay (ZTD) at ground-based receiver stations, surface pressure at synoptic stations and integrated water vapour at radiosonde stations, respectively. Innovation (observation minus model background) sequences computed with the High-Resolution Limited Area Model (HIRLAM) are used as statistical material for the estimation.We present a four-parameter exponential observation error covariance model for the ZTD horizontal observation error covariance. Seasonal and yearly mean models are provided for implementation into meteorological data assimilation systems.

Effect of troposphere slant delays on regional double difference GPS processing

The demand for geodetic time series that are accurate and stable is increasing. One factor limiting their accuracy is troposphere refraction, which is hard to model and compute with sufficient resolution, both in time and space. We have studied the effect of numerical weather model (NWM)-derived troposphere slant delays and the most commonly used mapping functions, Niell and Vienna, on Global Positioning System (GPS) processing. Six months of data were calculated for a regional Finnish network, FinnRef, which consists of 13 stations, using Bernese v. 5.0 in double difference mode. The results showed that when site-specific troposphere zenith delays or gradients are not estimated, the use of NWM-based troposphere delays improved the repeatabilities of all three components of station positions (north, east and up) statistically significantly and up to 60%. The more realistic troposphere model also reduces the baseline length dependence of the solution. When site-specific troposphere delays and the horizontal gradients were estimated, there was no statistically significant improvement between the different solutions.