Improving NWP through radar rainfall-driven land surface parameters: A case study on convective precipitation forecasting

In this study we investigate the effect of forcing the land surface scheme of an atmospheric mesoscale model with radar rainfall data instead of the model-generated rainfall fields. The goal is to provide improved surface conditions for the atmospheric model in order to achieve accurate simulations of the mesoscale circulations that can significantly affect the timing, distribution and intensity of convective precipitation. The performance of the approach is evaluated in a set of numerical experiments on the basis of a 2-day-long mesoscale convective system that occurred over the US Great Plains in July 2004. The experimental design includes multiple runs covering a variety of forcing periods. Continuous data integration was initially used to investigate the sensitivity of the model's performance in varying soil state conditions, while shorter time windows prior to the storm event were utilized to assess the effectiveness of the procedure for improving convective precipitation forecasting. Results indicate that continuous integration of radar rainfall data brings the simulated precipitation fields closer to the observed ones, as compared to the control simulation. The precipitation forecasts (up to 48 h) appear improved also in the cases of shorter integration periods (24 and 36 h), making this technique potentially useful for operational settings of weather forecasting systems. A physical interpretation of the results is provided on the basis of surface moisture and energy exchange. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.