Near-Real-Time Applications of a Mesoscale Analysis System to Complex Terrain

Abstract

Several mesoscale data analysis systems are reviewed, of which one is then adapted and applied to the complex terrain of northwest Utah and the western United States. The analysis system relies on the simple, but computationally efficient, successive correction methodology. Near-real-time three-dimensional mesoscale analyses are produced hourly over northwest Utah at 1-km horizontal resolution while analyses are produced every 15 min for surface fields over northwest Utah and the western United States. Surface analyses over the western United States are also generated at 0000 and 1200 UTC to help to initialize 36-h mesoscale model forecasts. Comparisons between the 1-km three-dimensional analyses and the background three-dimensional analysis provided by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Rapid Update Cycle, version 2 (RUC-2), indicate that, where surface and upper-air observations are abundant, the local analysis adds information beyond that of simply interpolating the background (RUC-2) data to the high-resolution analysis grid.