Numerical Study of Sea Winds Simulated by the High-Resolution Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model

We compared the features of sea winds simulated by the Korea Meteorological Administration's Regional Data Assimilation and Prediction System (RDAPS), the Korea Weather Research and Forecasting (KWRF) model, and high-resolution WRF models with 9- and 3-km horizontal grid resolutions. To investigate characteristics of sea winds around Korea during typhoon events, Typhoons Manyi and Usagi, which occurred in 2007, were simulated and analyzed. The characteristic typhoon tracks and intensities were analyzed from the RDAPS and KWRF simulations. Although both models gave good results compared with best track information, KWRF showed better performance in predicting the typhoon tracks. Horizontal wind distributions and statistical analyses of estimated and observed winds showed that the high-resolution, 3-km-grid WRF model produced the most accurate sea wind predictions for both typhoons and gave the closest results to the observations, showing the least bias and root mean-square error when compared with observations. However, shortcomings remain in accurately predicting sea winds. To enhance the simulation and prediction of sea winds, further detailed studies are needed.