ECMWF | Reading | 7-10 November 2016
Image: ESA/ATG medialab
Workshop description
The workshop was organised in collaboration with ESA and is inspired by the expected Aeolus Doppler wind lidar launch in 2017. Aeolus will provide much needed wind profile measurements that can be used for model diagnostics and data assimilation, especially in the tropics.
The workshop brought together modellers and data assimilation scientists that focussed on tropical aspects. It provided a forum for international experts to have focussed discussions on the future directions of model development, use of observations and data assimilation methods in the tropical region.
It is evident that weather prediction and climate models have the largest errors in the tropical region. This also affects extra-tropical predictability, because of the significant tropical/extra-tropical interaction on medium and long time scales. The workshop focussed on highlighting deficiencies and how to make progress in the areas of model parametrization, observation usage, data assimilation, and coupling of atmosphere-ocean-wave-land models in the tropical region. The workshop also discussed how best to use the Aeolus wind data and other observations in data assimilation systems and for evaluation of forecast models.
Most data assimilation systems are designed for extra-tropical flow regimes. How do we improve the analysis methods in the tropics? New hybrid ensemble-variational analysis methods have enabled an improved and flow-dependent description of background errors. This offers great potentials for improved multi-variate assimilation methods in the tropics.
The workshop included a number of invited talks, followed by working group discussions, yielding recommendations for future directions of research and operational implementations. There was also a poster session.
Presentations
Monday 7 November
| Tropical wave dynamics and data assimilation Erland Källén (ECMWF) |
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| Modelling ENSO and the tropical Pacific: the key role of the Equatorial wind stress Eric Guilyardi (IPSL/LOCEAN, France & NCAS Climate, University of Reading) |
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| Tropical waves, latent heating sources, and wave-driving of the tropical circulation Joan Alexander (NorthWest Research Associates, Boulder, Colorado, USA) |
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| Convective winds Peter Bechtold (ECMWF) |
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| Tropical observations in NWP: availability, impact and future evolution John Eyre (MetOffice, UK) |
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| The ESA ADM-Aeolus Doppler Wind lidar mission – status and validation strategy Anne Grete Straume (ESA/ESTEC, The Netherlands) |
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| Tropical convective-scale NWP in the deep tropics - the SINGV project Dale Barker (MetOffice, UK) |
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Tuesday 8 November
| Satellite-Derived Winds in the U.S. Navy’s Global NWP System: Usage and Data Impacts in the tropics Pat Pauley (Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, USA) |
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| AMVs in the tropics: use in NWP, data quality and impact James Cotton (MetOffice, UK) |
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| Strateole 2 - Long-duration stratospheric balloons providing wind information Albert Hertzog (LMD, Palaiseau, France) |
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| Using stratospheric wind observations along long-duration balloon flights to validate NWP models Riwal Plougonven (LMD, Palaiseau, France) |
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| EC-Earth modelling in the tropics Marston Johnston (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) |
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| Evaluating ECMWF’s model in the tropics using Data assimilation diagnostics Mark Rodwell (ECMWF) |
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| Model Climate (covariances, teleconnections) and atmosphere/ocean coupling with focus on the tropics Franco Molteni (ECMWF) |
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| Airborne Wind Lidar Campaigns for preparation of the Aeolus mission Oliver Reitebuch (DLR, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany) |
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| The Aeolus Level-2B processor and the Meteorological Processing Facility at ECMWF Mike Rennie (ECMWF) |
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| Expected impact of Aeolus winds for NWP, focus on the tropics Gert-Jan Marseille (KNMI, The Netherlands) |
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| Scatterometer winds, the tropics and the ECMWF model Ad Stoffelen (KNMI, The Netherlands) |
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Wednesday 9 November
| Assimilation of satellite ocean surface winds at ECMWF Giovanna De Chiara (ECMWF) |
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Ocean Data Assimilation in the tropics |
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| A redesigned Observing System in the Tropical Pacific: the TPOS 2020 project Sophie Cravatte (IRD, LEGOS, Toulouse, France) |
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| Impact of all-sky microwave radiance assimilation on analysis and prediction of tropical cyclone in the JMA’s global 4D-Var DA system Masahiro Kazumori (JMA, Japan) |
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| All-sky assimilation in the tropics: improving cloud and precipitation forecasts Alan Geer (ECMWF) |
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| Performance of the ECMWF 4D-Var analysis in the tropics Elías Hólm (ECMWF) |
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| Balance and tropical data assimilation Nedjeljka Žagar (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia) |
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The ECMWF scientific organising committee
Lars Isaksen, Magdalena Balmaseda, Peter Bechtold, Niels Bormann, Mike Rennie