A Comparison of GPS- and NWP-derived PW Data over the Korean Peninsula

Precipitable Water （PW） derived from Global Positioning System （GPS） measurements and numerical weather prediction （NWP） model analysis data were compared to further evaluate the effcacy of applying GPS-derived PW to the NWP model. The spatial and temporal variations of GPS-derived PW during a rainfall event were also examined. GPS-derived PW measurements show good agreement with the behavior of water vapor at a high spatial resolution during the analysis period. Temporal anomalies of GPS-derived PW moving along with the front are successfully detected by the GPS array. Large positive anomalies of GPS-derived PW are indicated immediately before a rainfall event, and the intensity of these positive anomalies do not seem to decrease significantly as the precipitation system passes. These results indicate that the Korean GPS network may have great potential as a PW sensor over the Korean Peninsula. In contrast with GPS-derived PW, NWP-derived PW shows negative biases. These biases appear to stem mainly from the differences between modeled and actual GPS site elevations, as GPS sites were generally located at elevations lower than those employed by the NWP model. However, there still exists a discernable dry bias after a PW correction is applied to NWP-derived PW. GPS-derived PW better reflects the spatial and temporal moisture variations of precipitation systems, as compared to NWP-derived PW. These results provide entirely new information for improving the regional NWP system, since GPS-derived PW produced with data from the Korean GPS network may be incorporated into the NWP model to improve rainfall forecasts.

Verification of tropical cyclones(TC)wind structure forecasts from global NWP models and ensemble prediction systems(EPSs)

Forecasting wind structure of tropical cyclone(TC)is vital in assessment of impact due to high winds using Numerical Weather Prediction(NWP)model.The usual verification technique on TC wind structure forecasts are based on grid-to-grid comparisons between forecast field and the actual field.However,precision of traditional verification measures is easily affected by small scale errors and thus cannot well discriminate the accuracy or effectiveness of NWP model forecast.In this study,the Method for Object-Based Diagnostic Evaluation(MODE),which has been widely adopted in verifying precipitation fields,is utilized in TC’s wind field verification for the first time.The TC wind field forecast of deterministic NWP model and Ensemble Prediction System(EPS)of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts(ECMWF)over the western North Pacific and the South China Sea in 2020 were evaluated.A MODE score of 0.5 is used as a threshold value to represent a skillful(or good)forecast.It is found that the R34(radius of 34 knots)wind field structure forecasts within 72 h are good regardless of DET or EPS.The performance of R50 and R64 is slightly worse but the R50 forecasts within 48 h remain good,with MODE exceeded 0.5.The R64forecast within 48 h are worth for reference as well with MODE of around 0.5.This study states that the TC wind field structure forecast by ECMWF is skillful for TCs over the western North Pacific and the South China Sea.