Use of weather research and forecasting model outputs to obtain near-surface refractive index structure constant over the ocean

The methods to obtain atmospheric refractive index structure constant (C-n(2)) by instrument measurement are limited spatially and temporally and they are more difficult and expensive over the ocean. It is useful to forecast C-n(2) effectively from Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) outputs. This paper introduces a method that WRF Model is used to forecast the routine meteorological parameters firstly, and then C-n(2) is calculated based on these parameters by the Bulk model from the Monin-Obukhov similarity theory (MOST) over the ocean near-surface. The corresponding C-n(2) values measured by the micro-thermometer which is placed on the ship are compared with the ones forecasted by WRF model to determine how this method performs. The result shows that the forecasted C-n(2) is consistent with the measured C-n(2) in trend and the order of magnitude as a whole, as well as the correlation coefficient is up to 77.57%. This method can forecast some essential aspects of C-n(2) and almost always captures the correct magnitude of C-n(2), which experiences fluctuations of two orders of magnitude. Thus, it seems to be a feasible and meaningful method that using WRF model to forecast near-surface C-n(2) value over the ocean. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America