Comparison between Dual-Doppler and EnKF Storm-Scale Wind Analyses: The 29-30 May 2004 Geary, Oklahoma, Supercell Thunderstorm

Kinematical analyses of storm-scale mobile radar observations are critical to advancing our understanding of supercell thunderstorms. Maximizing the accuracy of these analyses, and characterizing the uncertainty in ensuing conclusions about storm structure and processes, requires knowledge of the error characteristics of different retrieval techniques under different observational scenarios. Using storm-scale mobile radar observations of a tornadic supercell, this study examines the impacts on ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) wind analyses of the number of available radars (one versus two), uncertainty in the model-initialization sounding, the sophistication of the microphysical parameterization scheme (double versus single moment), and assimilating reflectivity observations. The relative accuracy of three-dimensional variational data assimilation (3DVAR) dual-Doppler wind retrievals and single- and dual-radar EnKF wind analyses of the supercell is also explored. The results generally reinforce the findings of a previous study that used observing system simulation experiments to explore the same issues. Both studies suggest that single-radar EnKF wind analyses can be very useful once enough data have been assimilated, but that subsequent analyses that operate on the retrieved wind field gradients should be interpreted with caution. In the present study, severe errors appear to occur in computed Lagrangian circulation time series, imperiling interpretation of the underlying dynamics. This result strongly suggests that dual- and multiple-Doppler radar deployment strategies continue to be used in mobile field campaigns.