Influence of Assimilation of NEXRAD-Derived 2D Inner-Core Structure Data from Single Radar on Numerical Simulations of Hurricane Charley (2004) near Its Landfall

• Published in: Remote sensing (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 16; no. 8; p. 1351
• Main Authors: Liu, Junkai, Pu, Zhaoxia, Lee, Wen-Chau, Gao, Zhiqiu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.04.2024
• Subjects: 2004 AD; Analysis; Data assimilation; Data collection; Doppler effect; Doppler radar; Experiments; Ground-based observation; hurricane landfall; Hurricane tracking; Hurricanes; Mathematical models; Meteorological research; Nexrad; NEXRAD observations; Numerical analysis; Numerical weather forecasting; Radar; Radar data; radar data assimilation; Radial velocity; Simulation; Simulation methods; Velocity; Vortices; Weather forecasting; WRF model; Florida; Cuba; United States > US
• ISSN: 2072-4292; 2072-4292
• DOI: 10.3390/rs16081351

This study presents the first research that assimilates the ground-based NEXRAD observations-derived two-dimensional (2D), azimuthally averaged radar radial velocity and reflectivity within 60 km of radius from the hurricane center to examine their influence on the analysis and prediction of a hurricane near and after its landfall. The mesoscale community Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and its four-dimensional variational (4D-VAR) data assimilation system are utilized to conduct data assimilation experiments for Hurricane Charley (2004). Results show that assimilation of the radar inner-core data leads to better forecasts of hurricane tracks, intensity, and precipitation. The improved forecast outcomes imply that the changes in dynamical, thermal, and moisture structures from data assimilations made more reasonable conditions for the hurricane development near and after its landfall. Overall results indicate that the assimilation of the radar-derived 2D inner-core structure could be a feasible way to utilize the radar data for improved hurricane prediction.