Publications

Govindankutty, M, Chandrasekar, A (2010). Effect of 3DVAR assimilation of MODIS temperature and humidity profiles on the dynamic and thermodynamic features of three monsoon depressions over the Bay of Bengal. METEOROLOGY AND ATMOSPHERIC PHYSICS, 107(2-Jan), 65-79.

Abstract
The three-dimensional variational data assimilation (3DVAR) technique in the advanced weather research and forecast model is used to study the impact of assimilating Moderate Resolution Spectroradiometer (MODIS) retrieved temperature and humidity profiles on the dynamic and thermodynamic features for three monsoon depressions over the Bay of Bengal, India. For better understanding of the role of various physical processes in the evolution of monsoon depression, a detailed diagnostic study is performed on all the three depression cases. Numerical experiments were conducted in a system of two-way nested domains with a horizontal resolution of 36 and 12 km, respectively. The assimilation of MODIS data did improve the mean sea level pressure patterns and spatial distribution of rainfall patterns in all the three monsoon depression cases studied. Higher values of equitable threat score and lower bias values are seen consistently for the entire rainfall threshold range and for all the three depression cases with 3DVAR assimilation of MODIS temperature and humidity profiles. The current operational regional models in India do not ingest the MODIS temperature and humidity profiles and hence the present study is particularly relevant to the operational forecasting community in India in their ongoing efforts to improve weather forecasting over India.

DOI:
10.1007/s00703-010-0069-9

ISSN:
0177-7971