High-Resolution Wind Simulation over Incheon International Airport with the Unified Model’s Rose Nesting Suite from KMA Operational Forecasts

This study employs the Unified Model (UM) with the rose nesting suite at 300-m resolution to construct a high spatial and temporal resolution wind simulation model for predicting wind gusts over the Incheon International Airport (IIA). The model can enable efficient aircraft operation and avert accidents due to sudden wind gusts. Simulation results with different inputs from the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) operational data assimilation and prediction systems are compared with an observed dataset. The 300-m nested prediction systems are built using the 17 km Global Prediction System (GDAPS) and 1.5 km Local Prediction System (LDAPS) of KMA. They are downscaled to 300 m resolution using five and three nesting domains from the GDAPS and LDAPS, respectively. The model results are validated against automated weather stations (AWS) to determine the accuracy of the UM for simulating high-resolution winds over the IIA. Both nesting suites are identical, with the only difference being their initial (IC) and lateral boundary conditions (LBC). The major difference between LDAPS and GDAPS downscaled model results is that the GDAPS downscaled system has a lower wind direction RMSE and the LDAPS downscaled system has a lower wind speed RMSE for up to 48 hours of verification against observations; thus, it is better than the GDAPS downscaled system. Two case studies were performed; one for wind gust conditions and one for vertical wind shear over the IIA. The 300 m model performs better in both cases, making it useful for wind gust and wind shear predictions over the airport.