Category Archives: Numerical modelling

Exploring the impact of Gulf Stream temperature biases on the global atmospheric circulation

By Robert Lee The climate state in numerical models often have differences when compared to a climatology from observations. These differences are often termed ‘biases’ and can be considered as a kind of error or deficiency in the model. These … Continue reading

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Tibetan Plateau Vortices

By Julia Curio Tibetan Plateau Vortices (TPVs) are meso-scale cyclones that originate over the Tibetan Plateau and move eastwards steered by the subtropical westerly jet above. These storms can also move off the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and travel as far … Continue reading

Posted in China, earth observation, extratropical cyclones, Flooding, Monsoons, Numerical modelling, University of Reading, Weather forecasting | Leave a comment

The “size” of the NWP/DA problem

By Javier Amezcua There is a professor in the University of Reading that likes to say that the Data Assimilation (DA) problem in Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) is larger than the size of the universe (estimated to be around 1080 … Continue reading

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Improving estimates of soil moisture over Ghana

By Ewan Pinnington This work aims to improve estimates of soil moisture over Ghana as part of the ERADACS project. In regions where the population relies on subsistence farming it is soil moisture, rather than precipitation per se, that is … Continue reading

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Chaotic Convection

By Todd Jones In the traditional global climate model (GCM) configuration, models simulate atmospheric motions explicitly on spatial grids with spacings on the order of 100 km. Motions on finer scales are not directly simulated. Instead, we use parameterizations, some … Continue reading

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Exploring the impact of the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV)

By Dan Hodson After 140 years of observations, we now know that the temperature of the surface of the Atlantic ocean slowly varied over time, cooling and warming over periods of decades (Figure 1). These slow variations in temperature sit … Continue reading

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Forecasting the Indian monsoon

By Arathy Menon The South Asian monsoon, which brings rainfall to India and the neighbouring countries during the boreal summer season, is a major atmospheric circulation system. India receives more than 80% of its annual rainfall during the monsoon season, generally … Continue reading

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Without the Tibetan Plateau, what would happen to the Asian summer monsoons?

By Mike Wong The Tibetan Plateau is the highest and most extensive plateau in the world, with an average elevation exceeding 4000 metres and stretching over 2.5 million square kilometres. While it is often called the ‘rooftop of the world’, … Continue reading

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BoBBLE: Air-sea interactions and intraseasonal oscillations in the Bay of Bengal

By Simon Peatman The Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) is one of the most significant features of the tropical climate. The heavy rain it brings during boreal summer provides around 80% of the annual precipitation over much of India with over 1 … Continue reading

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Responding to the threat of hazardous pollutant releases in cities

By Denise Hertwig High population density and restricted evacuation options make cities particularly vulnerable to threats posed by air-borne contaminants released into the atmosphere through industrial accidents or terrorist attacks. In order to issue evacuation or sheltering advice to the … Continue reading

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