Comparisons of modelled and observed vertical weather profiles during convective events

Abstract

This NWP verification exercise compared WRF against radiosonde data featuring Air Temperature, Dewpoint Temperature, Wind speed and Wind direction. WRF data was sourced from the work done by Bonnici, 2016 whilst radiosonde data was accessed from an archive. The study covers 30x30km grid to grid horizontal resolution WRF output across a 48hour time period between the dates, 24/10/10 to 26/10/10. The vertical dimension is consistently segregated into pressure levels, which were; 850hPa 700hPa 500hPa 400hPa 300hPa All significant data outliers were met with careful examination of the observed meteorological conditions (particularly evidence of convection) through GIS layers obtained from the EUMETRAIN archive. Model skill was statistically assessed by the use of the root square mean error, RMSE and means absolute error indices, MAE.