Applying MODE time-domain for diagnosis and visualization of simulated supercells

The Method for Object-based Diagnostic Evaluation (MODE) is a feature-based verification tool that identifies spatial objects as contiguous regions of points exceeding a user-specified threshold. MODE can provide information on object shape, size, and intensity, as well as the degree of correspondence between objects in forecasts and observations. Recently, the time dimension has been added to a version of MODE called MODE time-domain (MODE-TD). In MODE-TD, contiguous regions of points in space and time exceeding a specified threshold are considered objects. The addition of the time dimension results in a much more powerful tool because it allows for straightforward analysis of attributes related to initiation/dissipation, duration, evolution, and maximum intensity. Herein, MODE-TD is used as a forecasting tool following the concept of "feature-specific prediction", which involves identifying features of potential interest in forecast fields and presenting them as guidance. Specifically, MODE-TD is used for identifying supercells in 4-km convection-allowing WRF-ARW simulations based on longevity and maximum intensity criteria of 5-minute maximum updraft helicity. Once supercells are identified, they are displayed along with various attributes and associated environmental parameters using an experimental interface known as the NSSL Experimental Data Explorer.