Search results for "Weather Research and Forecasting Model"

Modeling impacts of super cool roofs on air temperature at pedestrian level in mesoscale and microscale climate models

2021

Abstract Passive daytime radiative cooling is gaining increasing relevance as recent studies report that newly developed materials with very high reflectivity and emissivity could be able to effectively reduce urban heat stress, when applied as roofing material (super cool roofs). A recent microscale sensitivity study with ENVI-met modeled the impact of super cool roofs with maximum air temperature reductions of around 0.85 K at pedestrian level for an idealized model area. To verify these findings in real urban structures featuring complex building morphologies and varying meteorological conditions, we conducted climate simulations for two contrasting cities: New York City, NY, and Phoenix…

Surface to boundary layer coupling in the urban area of Lisbon comparing different urban canopy models in WRF

2019

Abstract This work presents a sensitivity study to evaluate different Urban Canopy Models (UCM) existing within the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) in the urban area of Lisbon, Portugal. Several hind-cast simulations were carried out for a selected period in July 2010, in which synoptic conditions favoured urban heat island formation. We aim to gain knowledge on the feedback of modified urban canopy representation in WRF on local scale meteorology and the boundary-layer dynamics over the urban area, by comparing a single layer urban canopy model (SLUCM) and a more sophisticated multi-layer building effect parametrisation (BEP). We find significant differences in the characteris…

2017

Abstract. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are hazardous pollutants, with increasing emissions in pace with economic development in East Asia, but their distribution and fate in the atmosphere are not yet well understood. We extended the regional atmospheric chemistry model WRF-Chem (Weather Research Forecast model with Chemistry module) to comprehensively study the atmospheric distribution and the fate of low-concentration, slowly degrading semivolatile compounds. The WRF-Chem-PAH model reflects the state-of-the-art understanding of current PAHs studies with several new or updated features. It was applied for PAHs covering a wide range of volatility and hydrophobicity, i.e. phenanth…

Multi-model simulations of a convective situation in low-mountain terrain in central Europe

2008

The goal of the present study is to investigate the variability of simulated convective precipitation by three convection-resolving models using different set-ups and initial and boundary conditions. The COSMO, MM5 and WRF models have been used to simulate the atmospheric situation on 12 July 2006, when local convection occurred in central Europe under weak synoptic forcing. The focus of this investigation is on the convective precipitation in the northern Black Forest in South-West Germany. The precipitation fields from the nine model simulations differ considerably. Six simulations capture the convective character of the event. However, they differ considerably in the location and timing …

Impact of Noah-LSM Parameterizations on WRF Mesoscale Simulations: Case Study of Prevailing Summer Atmospheric Conditions over a Typical Semi-Arid Re…

2021

The current study evaluates the ability of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) to forecast surface energy fluxes over a region in Eastern Spain. Focusing on the sensitivity of the model to Land Surface Model (LSM) parameterizations, we compare the simulations provided by the original Noah LSM and the Noah LSM with multiple physics options (Noah-MP). Furthermore, we assess the WRF sensitivity to different Noah-MP physics schemes, namely the calculation of canopy stomatal resistance (OPT_CRS), the soil moisture factor for stomatal resistance (OPT_BTR), and the surface layer drag coefficient (OPT_SFC). It has been found that these physics options strongly affect the energy partiti…

Wave Energy Assessment around the Aegadian Islands (Sicily)

2019

This paper presents the estimation of the wave energy potential around the Aegadian islands (Italy), carried out on the basis of high resolution wave hindcast. This reanalysis was developed employing Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) and WAVEWATCH III ® models for the modelling of the atmosphere and the waves, respectively. Wave climate has been determined using the above-mentioned 32-year dataset covering the years from 1979 to 2010. To improve the information about wave characteristics regarding spatial details, i.e., increasing wave model resolution, especially in the nearshore region around the islands, a SWAN (Simulating WAves Nearshore) wave propagation model was used. Results obtai…

Small Wind Turbines: Specification, Design, and Economic Evaluation

2016

In this work, we consider various aspects of small wind turbines' (SWTs) design and operation. First, an extensive literature study is presented by considering SWTs specification, market statistics, the smart grid, and the prosumer concepts as well as the most important parameters affecting the efficiency of wind turbines. Then, both the literature review and series of coupled numerical simulations investigating impact of the chosen design solutions on small wind turbine operation are performed. It allowed objective evaluation of different design approaches, which in turn enabled the systematic identification of actual limitations as well as the opportunities for specific design solutions o…

Europe's offshore winds assessed with synthetic aperture radar, ASCAT and WRF

2020

Europe's offshore wind resource mapping is part of the New European Wind Atlas (NEWA) international consortium effort. This study presents the results of analysis of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) ocean wind maps based on Envisat and Sentinel-1 with a brief description of the wind retrieval process and Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) ocean wind maps. The wind statistics at 10 and 100 m above mean sea level (a.m.s.l.) height using an extrapolation procedure involving simulated long-term stability over oceans are presented for both SAR and ASCAT. Furthermore, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) offshore wind atlas of NEWA is presented. This has 3 km grid spacing with data …

Europe’s offshore winds assessed from SAR, ASCAT and WRF

2019

Abstract. Europe’s offshore wind resource mapping is part of the New European Wind Atlas (NEWA) international consortium effort. This study presents the results of analysis of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) ocean wind maps based on Envisat and Sentinel-1 with a brief description of the wind retrieval process and Advanced SCATterometer (ASCAT) ocean wind maps. The wind statistics at 10m and 100m height using an extrapolation procedure involving simulated long-term stability over oceans is presented for both SAR and ASCAT. Furthermore, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) offshore wind atlas of NEWA is presented. This has 3 km grid resolution with data every 30 minutes during 30 years f…

How relevant are local climate zones and urban climate zones for urban climate research? Dijon (France) as a case study.

2018

17 pages; International audience; Several typologies of urban surface properties have been proposed, in recent years, for urban heat island studies and climate modeling. Some were specifically developed for cities and urban climate issues, like the Urban Climate Zones, and the more recent Local Climate Zones. The initial objective of this paper is to evaluate the capacity of these two typologies to identify thermal environments in and around cities, and to determine which typology best captures the daily spatio-temporal patterns of surface and urban canopy heat islands. To simulate urban climate with a model, LULC data based on a given typology are required. To avoid circularity, we combine…