Applications of the Battlescale Forecast Model for the Army

The Battlescale Forecast Model (BFM), a mesoscale model developed by the Army Research Laboratory, is typically used in an area of 500*500 km, or smaller. The BFM output for each grid point includes the U and V horizontal wind vectors, potential temperature and water vapor mixing ratio, all of which are saved at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24-h times from the base time of the model run. By manipulating these data it is possible to derive post-processed short-term forecasted meteorological variables such as visibility, turbulence, icing, thunderstorm probability and clouds. These weather hazards are then stored in a gridded meteorological data base where they can be used by various tactical decision aids to determine the effects of weather on military operations, weapon systems, and personnel.