Land Surface Modeling in the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System

The Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS) is the U. S. Department of Defense's high-resolution global weather prediction system, which is used for operational medium range weather prediction, forcing for operational mesoscale and oceanographic models, and numerical weather prediction research. Recent changes to NOGAPS include the introduction of new land surface modeling (LSM) schemes, developed by the Naval Research Laboratory. The new LSM schemes replaced the simple single layer slab/bucket scheme. Data assimilation results for July 2006 demonstrated that the introduction of the LSM schemes reduced NOGAPS land surface cold bias and improved the prediction of tropical cyclone track forecasts. The current presentation will include: (1) the current formulation of the LSM schemes, (2) a discussion of the changes to NOGAPS forecasts, (3) sensitivity of the LSM parameters using the NOGAPS single column model, and (4) planned improvements of the LSM schemes.