Abstract

The U.S. Army Research Laboratory is currently performing research involving various aspects of the Advanced Research version of the Weather Research and Forecasting model  version 3.0 (specifically 3.0.1.1) . This research focuses primarily on the utility of the model for short-range forecast/nowcast purposes at grid spacing of 1-3 km, and is being supported through the Air Force Weather Agency. In particular, the work involves testing various model configurations involving model vertical resolution, time stepping, microphysics, planetary boundary layer parameterization, observation nudging data assimilation, and sub-nesting to hundreds of meters grid spacing. To provide proper metrics using traditional statistical and newer object-based verification approaches, the National Center for Atmospheric Research Model Evaluation Tool software is also being implemented and tested as a part of this study. This paper will focus on the research strategies and model test configurations being employed, along with showing some examples of a few modeling results. Finally, plans for extending this work in coming years will be discussed towards the end of the paper.