Kurz, M.

Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert

THE MODEL CHAIN OF THE DEUTSCHER
WETTERDIENST AND ITS USE IN OPERATIONAL
WEATHER FORECASTING
M. KURZ
Head , Department of Weather Forecasting, DWI)
INTRODUCTION
According to law the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) has to guarantee the
meteorological safety of air and sea navigation. The DWD has also to provide
forecast information for a wide variety of users including the public, private enter-
prises and media. These tasks are carried out in the business area ,Forecast Cus-
tomers and media,, of the new organizational structure of the DWD.
Within the international collaboration of the National Meteorological and
Hydrological Services (NMHS's) organized by the World Meteorological Organi-
zation (WMO), the DWD runs one of the Regional Specialized Meteorological
Centres (RSMC's) of the Global Data Processing System (GDPS) of the World
Weather Watch (WWW). In this function the DWD has to provide basic weather
analyses and forecasts for Europe and the North Atlantic.
The backbone of all activities of the DWD in weather forecasting is a chain
of Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP)-models providing analyses as well as
forecasts up to seven days ahead. In this paper this model chain and its use in
operational forecasting is described.
TI IF MODEL Cl IAIN
The model chain of the DWD consists of three NWP models, namely
- a global model (GM),
- a limited area model covering Europe and the North Atlantic (called ,Europa-
Modell,,, EM), and
- a high resolution model covering Germany and the neighbouring countries
(called ,Deutschland-Modell,,, DM).
IBudl. Soc. (a . Cicnc.], Vol. XV, Mini. 1, 1995
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The global model (GM) has been derived from a similar model of the Euro-
pean Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF). It is a spectral
model with triangular truncation at wavenumbcr 106. That roughly corresponds
to a horizontal grid size of 200 km in mid latitudes. In the vertical the GM has 19
levels. It runs twice a day up to 168 h starting from the analyses for 00 and 12
UTC. Its main purpose is to provide boundary values for the EM. The forecasts
beyond 78 hours are calculated in order to support medium-range forecasting.
Domain of the ,Europa-Modell,, (EM) including the boundary
zone and the domain of the ,Deutschland-Modell" (DM)
The,Europa-Modell>> (EM) is the main weather forecast model of the DWD.
It is a grid point model with a mesh of 181 x 129 grid points (mesh size 0.5°) in
rotated spherical coordinates(see fig.). The rotated north pole has the geographi-
cal coordinates X = 170° W and tp = 32.5° N. In this coordinate system, the
domain extends from cp' = 320 S to 32° N where the convergence of the meridians
is still small. Thus, the true distance between grid points in W-E-direction varies
only between 55.6 knm in the center of the domain and 47.1 km at the edges; in
N-S-direction, the distance is 55.6 km.
In the vertical, the model atmosphere is resolved by 20 layers of upward
increasing thickness. Eight layers are used in the lowest 2 km of the atmosphere to
reproduce the structure of the boundary layer sufficiently well; four layers are
placed in the stratosphere.
[Butll. Soc. (:at. Cienc.J, Vol. XV, Num. 1, 1995
I/. At / 11i
EM is based on the primitive equations in a terrain-following hybrid coordi-
nate system. The prognostic variables are
- surface pressure p,
- horizontal wind components (u, v)
- total heat h = c1, "I' + Lq,, , defined as the sum of enthalpy and latent heat of
condensation,
- total water content q,,, = q,. + q, which is the sum of the specific contents
of water vapour q,, and cloud water q,.
Assuming water saturation in clouds, the three variables temperature T, wa-
ter vapor content qv and cloud water content qc can be determined diagnostically
from the prognostic variables h and qw distinguishing between cloud and no-
cloud-areas. The vertical velocity in the pressure system w is used as further diag-
nostic quantity. The geopotential ((^) of the pressure surfaces is derived with aid
of the hydrostatic equation.
The processes of horizontal diffusion, grid-scale precipitation, moist convec-
tion, cloudiness and radiation, and the vertical turbulent fluxes are physically
parameterized by using appropriate numerical schemes. A soil model predicts the
temporal revolution of temperature and water content at the surface for land points
whereas for sea points the sea surface temperature is kept constant during the
forecast.
The « Deutschland-Modell,> (DM) has the same physical design and the
same vertical grid structure as the EM, but with a mesh size of 0.125° - 14
km it has a much higher horizontal resolution. It has its own analysis scheme for
which the EM provides the boundary values.
78 h-EM forecasts are produced twice a day for 00 and 12 UTC with a cut-
off time of 3 h 30 min and a time step of 5 min. The boundary data for these
forecasts are provided at 3 h intervals by a GM run from the same initial data. GM
and EM share the four processors of a CRAY Y-MP-Supercomputer during the
operational suite, each model using 2 CPUs nominally.
The DM runs up to 48 h with the boundary data from an early run of the
EM (cut-off time 2 h 14 min). The DM forecasts are available 3 h 20 min, the EM
forecasts 5 h 35 min, and the GM forecasts 6 h 25 min after observation time.
According to the different horizontal resolution, there are differences in the
ability of the models to simulate typical features of the weather in the mid lati-
tudes. The GM is able to reproduce all features of the Macro- (or Synoptic-) Scale,
i.e. features with a typical horizontal dimension greater than 2000 km like the
moving lows and highs near surface and the baroclinic waves connected with them
in upper levels. The EM additionally resolves the hyper-baroclinic frontal zones at
which the depressions originate and which belong to the meso-a-Scale (200 -
2000 km). The main precipitation activity takes place at these frontal zones. The
DM finally is able to reproduce some of the phenomena of the meso-(3-Scale (20
- 200 km) like frontal-substructures (e.g. rain bands) and the weather features
originated by the orography (foehn, enhanced precipitation, formation of lee cy-
clones).
[Buell. Soc. Car_ Cienc.], Vol. XV, Num. 1, 1995
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For the latter the different representation of the mountains is crucial. Whereas
the maximum height of the Alps is only around 1500 m in the GM, the harrier
extends to a height of up to 2300 m in the EM and up to 3130 m in the DM.
Ol'FRAIIONAL UST: OF THE MODEL PRODUCTS
The output of the model chain is distributed to the Central Forecasting Unit
of the DWD in Offenbach and to the Regional Offices in Essen, Hamburg, Leip-
zig, Munich, Offenbach, Potsdam and Stuttgart. These offices are responsible for
producing weather forecasts for all time scales tailored to the needs of the different
users and for issuing warnings of hazardous weather. The provision of special prod-
ucts for the media is carried out by the Media Service Centre in Offenbach.
A subject of the output is provided via the Global Telecommunication Sys-
tem (GTS) of the WWW for use by the NMHS's in Europe. The main tool for
the provision is at present a long-wave facsimile transmission, but it will be re-
placed by a satellite distribution system very soon.
The model output is used in different form. The EM provides the basic
analyses and forecasts of geopotential, temperature, humidity and wind of the
standard pressure levels 850, 700, 500, 300 and 200 hPa in the form of maps. The
analysis of the surface maps with the isobars of the surface pressure and the fronts
is still carried out manually, but model fields are used as a supporting tool. The
forecast maps for surface are interactively produced at workstations, whereby the
meteorologist has to insert the fronts and can change the numerically forecasted
pressure field if necessary.
Other EM products are predictions of precipitation sums and of the 10 m
wind. From the DM forecasts of the low cloudiness, amount and type of precipi-
tation, type of convection and also of the 10 m winds are derived and distributed.
Another way to present the output is the production of so-called meteograms,
in which the course of the meteorological parameters is indicated for grid points
near special places. They can be used as a basis for local forecasts.
As an important tool in the case of nuclear or chemical accidents, analyses
and forecasts of air trajectories can he produced by the EM as well as the DM.
Some special products for use in the media have been developed during the
past year with aid of the EM and DM output. These are loops showing the cloud
development as seen from a satellite, animations of the temperature distribution
and pictograms containing weather information.
From the description of the different forms of the output, one could possibly
infer that all weather forecasts could be derived directly and more or less auto-
matically from the model products. That is, of course, not true. Although the
quality of the numerical forecasts is quite high, the prognoses are not perfect and
the well-trained meteorologist is needed to monitor the weather, to compare it
with the numerical forecast run, to derive alternative forecasts if an error of the
model becomes obvious and, finally, to produce the tailored forecasts for the dif-
ferent end users.
[Butll. Sot. Cat. Cienc.], Vol. XV, Mint. 1, 1995


The Model chain of the deutscher wetterdienst and its use in operational weather forecasting

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