Implementation of a Data Assimilation System in Conjunction with the New York State Mesonet

New York State is currently installing a sophisticated mesonet across the state consisting of 126 surface stations with a variety of instruments, a network of 17 vertical profiling sites, and separate snow and flux networks. As of the writing of this abstract, the network is nearly fully installed, and all networks will be completed by the end of September 2017. Collectively, these networks will record a wide variety of measurements useful for numerous applications. One of these applications will be to facilitate the development of a sophisticated real-time analysis system. The goal of this system is to produce high-resolution analyses both spatially (3 km) and temporally (1 h) for New York State and its vicinity. This system will use the Advanced Research WRF model within a Data Assimilation Research Testbed framework.

Preliminary work has been done developing a configuration of model physics and domain parameters suitable to forecasting in the state of New York. This configuration has been tested over several interesting meteorological events. Once confidence in the system’s performance is sufficient, it will be implemented in real-time. Mesonet observations will be gradually incorporated as appropriate after they become available and their quality vetted. This presentation will give a brief overview of the New York State Mesonet along with a description of the current state of our testing and implementation, with a focus on the impact of mesonet data.