Thermodynamical Structure of Atmosphere during Pre-monsoon Thunderstorm Season over Kharagpur as Revealed by STORM Data

Variation of atmospheric thermodynamical structure parameters between days of thunderstorm occurrence and non-occurrence is presented based on data sets obtained during Severe Thunderstorm-Observations and Regional Modeling (STORM) experiments conducted over Kharagpur (22.3°N, 87.2°E) in pre-monsoon season of 2009 and 2010. Potential instability (stable to neutral) is noticed in the lower layers and enhanced (suppressed) convection in the middle troposphere during thunderstorm (non-thunderstorm) days. Low-level jets are observed during all days of the experimental period but with higher intensity on thunderstorm days. Convective available potential energy (CAPE) builds up until thunderstorm occurrence and becomes dissipated soon after, whereas convective inhibition (CIN) is greatly decreased prior to the event on thunderstorm days. In contrast, higher CAPE and CIN are noticed on non-thunderstorm days. Analysis of thermodynamic indices showed that indices including moisture [humidity index (HI) and dew point temperature at 850 hPa (DPT850)] are useful in differentiating thunderstorm from non-thunderstorm days. The present study reveals that significant moisture availability in the lower troposphere in the presence of convective instability conditions results in thunderstorm occurrence at Kharagpur.     

Impact of Doppler Radar Wind in Simulating the Intensity and Propagation of Rainbands Associated with Mesoscale Convective Complexes Using MM5-3DVAR System

Pre-monsoon rainfall around Kolkata (northeastern part of India) is mostly of convective origin as 80% of the seasonal rainfall is produced by Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCS). Accurate prediction of the intensity and structure of these convective cloud clusters becomes challenging, mostly because the convective clouds within these clusters are short lived and the inaccuracy in the models initial state to represent the mesoscale details of the true atmospheric state. Besides the role in observing the internal structure of the precipitating systems, Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) provides an important data source for mesoscale and microscale weather analysis and forecasting. An attempt has been made to initialize the storm-scale numerical model using retrieved wind fields from single Doppler radar. In the present study, Doppler wind velocities from the Kolkata Doppler weather radar are assimilated into a mesoscale model, MM5 model using the three-dimensional variational data assimilation (3DVAR) system for the prediction of intense convective events that occurred during 0600 UTC on 5 May and 0000 UTC on 7 May, 2005. In order to evaluate the impact of the DWR wind data in simulating these severe storms, three experiments were carried out. The results show that assimilation of Doppler radar wind data has a positive impact on the prediction of intensity, organization and propagation of rain bands associated with these mesoscale convective systems. The assimilation system has to be modified further to incorporate the radar reflectivity data so that simulation of the microphysical and thermodynamic structure of these convective storms can be improved.     

On the Prediction of Tropical Cyclones over the Indian Region Using a Synthetic Vortex Scheme in a Mesoscale Model

The tropical cyclones form over the oceanic regions where conventional meteorological observations are not available. This contributes to a poor initial analysis of the cyclonic vortex and hence inadequate forecast. One way of overcoming the above problem is to modify the initial analysis by replacing the weak and ill-defined vortex in the initial analysis with a synthetic vortex having the correct size and intensity at the correct location. In this study we are investigating the effect of inclusion of a synthetic vortex based on Rankine as well as on Holland wind profiles, using NCAR-AFWA bogussing scheme for the prediction of four tropical cyclones, which formed over the Bay of Bengal during November 2002 and 2005, December 2005 and over the Arabian Sea during May 2004, using the MM5 model. Two numerical experiments are designed in this study for each of the above four cyclones. In the first experiment the model is integrated with a synthetic vortex based on Rankine wind profile while in the second experiment we utilize the Holland wind profile. For the November 2002 cyclone, in both the experiments the model is integrated from 10 November 2002 18 UTC to 12 November, 2002 12 UTC with the synthetic vortex inserted at the initial time. The results of the study for the November 2002 cyclone show that the model simulation with the Holland vortex has produced a stronger cyclone in terms of minimum sea-level pressure and maximum wind speed. Also, the results for the November 2002 cyclone with the Holland vortex showed a better longitudinal height section of the horizontal wind speed across the center of the cyclone. The track error of the cyclone for the November 2002 cyclone is less in the model simulation with the Holland vortex at the initial time and at 24 hours of forecast. The results for the November 2002 cyclone with the Rankine vortex showed greater vertical wind speed as compared to the Holland vortex. However, for the November 2002 cyclone there were no significant differences in the spatial distribution of precipitation for both the experiments. In order to provide an adequate number of case studies for a good statistical sample, the present study is extended for three additional cyclones over the Indian region. All four cyclones studied here show that the Holland vortex has produced a stronger cyclone in terms of the minimum sea-level pressure and maximum wind speed. The Holland vortex showed a better vertical structure of wind speed in the longitudinal height section at 24 hours of forecast for the November 2005 cyclone while the structure was better for the Rankine vortex for the remaining two cyclones. There were no significant differences in the spatial distribution of precipitation for the two experiments corresponding to all four cyclones. Some statistical results pertaining to all four cyclones are provided such as the average track error as well as the average difference between the observed and the model minimum sea-level pressure and the maximum wind speed. The statistical results corresponding to the average of all the four cyclones are at only a slight variance with the results corresponding to the November 2002 cyclone.     

Evaluation of the Flow Measurement Performance of Compound Sharp-Crested Over-Fall Weirs and Optimized Discharge Measurement in Data Scarce Areas

Water Resources - The hydraulic relationships of flow through the weir of different common shapes were investigated in this study. The hydraulic performances of weirs were carried out...