RUC Post-Processing Diagnosed Variables
8 Sept 2004 - Added info for cloud base/top
12 Sept 2005 - Update/corrections for 13-km RUC (RUC13) implementation in June 2005
29 Sept 2005 - Added comment on omega
Apr 2007 - More updates
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Relative humidity
- Defined with respect to saturation over water in the RUC isobaric fields and in the surface relative humidity field.Diagnosis of sfc temp, dewpoint temp
- Temperature and dewpoint temperatures displayed are extrapolated from the lowest RUC native level at 5m above the RUC topography to a separate "minimum" topography field to give values more representative of valley stations in mountainous areas, where surface stations are usually located. The reduction from the original model topography to the "minimum" topography uses a lapse rate from the lowest ~25 hPa from the RUC field. This lapse rate is constrained to be between dry-adiabatic and isothermal. This same method is used in "downscaling" RUC data to the RTMA (Real-Time Mesoscale Analysis) background field as of July 2006.
RUC20 - "minimum" topography field uses minimum of 10km values near
each 20km grid point as first guess. Then, modified to fit METAR
surface elevations with fine-scale Barnes analysis.
RUC20 - 2 m temperature and dewpoint are now reduced to 2m level
instead of 5 m model computational
level using similarity theory. In a likewise manner,
10 m winds are reduced to 10 m instead of the 5 m model
computational level. For temp/dewpoint, the final 2 m values are
a combination of the reduction to "minimum" topography and the
diagnosis of the 2 m level. These two methods have been found to
improve fit to METAR values in RUC analyses and forecasts.
RUC13 - The 13km topomini field is derived from
a 3km terrain field over the RUC domain using the WRF-SI program.
Sea-level pressure - MAPS reduction (MAPS SLP) - This reduction is the one used in previous versions of RUC/MAPS using the 700 hPa temperature to minimize unrepresentative local variations caused by local surface temperature variations. This reduction is described in Benjamin and Miller (1990, October, Monthly Weather Review, pp. 2099-2116.) This method has some improvement over the standard reduction method in mountainous areas and gives geostrophic winds that are more consistent with observed surface winds.
RUC20 - Reduction method improved with bug fixes. RUC20 SLP
is now more coherent in mountainous regions.
Precipitation accumulation
- 1h/3h accumulations. 1h accumulation is over last 1h period in
model forecast. 3h accumulation is over last 3h period in model
forecast EXCEPT that it is only for the 0-2h accumulation for
a 2h forecast output, and for the 0-1h accumulation for
a 1h forecast output.
Instantaneous precipitation rate Total precipitation (resolved and sub-grid-scale) in last physics time step (80 sec in 13km RUC) is written in mm/s.
Resolvable and sub-grid scale precipitation -
In RUC2 (40km - 1998-02) (and RUC1 - 60km - 1994-98), the forecast model uses the Grell (1994, Mon. Wea. Rev.)
(RUC20 - see Grell and Devenyi, 2001, AMS NWP Conf., Benjamin et al., 2004 MWR - RUC model article)
convective parameterization scheme. This scheme tends to force grid-scale
saturation in its feedback to temperature and moisture fields. One result
of this is that the precipitation from weather systems that might be
considered to be largely convective will be reflected in the RUC model
with the Grell scheme with a substantial proportion of resolvable-scale
precipitation. Thus, the sub-grid scale precipitation from RUC should
not be considered equivalent to "convective precipitation".
Snow accumulation (in web product)
Snow depth (actual, updated Aug 2008, true since 2005)
- This field is the current estimated snow depth using
the latest snow density, which is also an evolving variable.
(Snow water equivalent cycles internally within the RUC 1-h cycle.)
The 10:1 ratio is kept
only for fresh snow falling on the ground surface when 2-m air temperature is below -15 C.
When 2-m temperature is above -15 C the density of falling snow is computed using
the exponential dependency on 2-m temperature, and usually the ratio will be less than 10:1,
but not less than 2.5:1.
The density of snow pack is computed as weighed average of old and fresh snow, and
it changes with time due to compaction, temperature changes, melted water held within the snow pack
and addition of more fresh snow.
(See Koren et al., 1999, J. Geophys. Res., for snow density formulations.
Snow density is provided in the RUC grib output together with snow water equivalent and snow depth.
RUC20 - New land-surface model in RUC20 includes 2-level snow model and
cold-season effects (freezing and thawing of moisture in soil). Land-use
data is more detailed (derived from 1 km data). Both of these changes
lead to improved snow depth in the RUC20. The RUC20 continues to cycle
snow depth/cover, as well as snow temperature in the top 5 cm and below
that top snow layer.
Categorical precipitation types - rain/snow/ice
pellets/freezing rain -
- Diagnostic logic for precipitation types
- A snow/rain ratio is calculated between snow mixing ratio fall rate over the total (snow+rain+graupel) mixing rate fall rate.
- Snow -
- There are a few conditions under which snow precip type will be
diagnosed.
- If fall rate for snow mixing ratio at ground is at least 0.2 x 10**-9 g/g/second, snow is diagnosed.
- If fall rate for graupel mixing ratio at ground is >
1.0 x 10**-9 g/g/s and
- sfc temp is < 0 deg C, and max rain mixing ratio at any level < 0.05 g/kg or the graupel rate at the sfc is less than the snow fall rate, snow is diagnosed.
- sfc temp is between 0 - +2 deg C
- Diagnose snow (and not rain) if snow/rain ratio > 0.60
- Rain - If the fall rate for rain mixing ratio at ground is at
least 0.01 (RUC13-0.001- larger area for drizzle
condition) g/g/second, and the temperature at the surface is
> or = 0 deg C, then rain is diagnosed. The temperature used for this
diagnosis is that at the minimum topography, described above.
- Diagnose rain, not snow if snow/rain ratio < 0.25.
- Freezing rain - Same as for rain, but if the temperature at the surface is < 0 deg C and some level above the surface is above freezing, freezing rain is diagnosed.
- Ice pellets - If the graupel fall rate at the surface is at least 1.0 x 10**-9 g/g/s and the sfc temp is < 0 deg C and the max rain mixing ratio in the column is > 0.05 g/kg and the graupel fall rate at the sfc is greater than that for snow mixing ratio, then ice pellets are diagnosed.
RUC20/RUC13 - Precipitation type output was improved in both implementations of the RUC20 and RUC13 via improvements in the RUC/MM5/Thompson mixed-phase cloud microphysics. In particular, there is less graupel diagnosed.
Freezing levels - Two sets of freezing levels are output from RUC, one searching from the bottom up, and one searching from the top down. Of course, these two sets may be equivalent under many situations, but they may sometimes identify multiple freezing levels. The bottom-up algorithm will return the surface as the freezing level if any of the bottom 3 native RUC levels (up to about 50 m above the surface) are below freezing (per instructions from Aviation Weather Center, which uses this product). The top-down freezing level returns the first level at which the temperature goes above freezing searching from the top downward. For both the top-down and bottom-up algorithms, the freezing level is actually interpolated between native RUC levels to estimate the level at which the temperature goes above or below freezing.
RUC20 - freezing level accuracy is improved, especially near the surface,
from more accurate temperature forecasts and an improved representation
of the diurnal cycle (land-surface, cloud physics improvements)
3-h surface pressure change CAPE
-The 3-h pressure change field during the
first 3 h of a model forecast often shows some non-physical
features resulting from gravity wave sloshing in the model, despite
use of digital filter initialization (DFI) in RUC model.
After 3 h, the pressure change field appears to be better well-behaved.
The smaller-scale features in this field appear
to be very useful for seeing predicted movement of lows, surges, etc.
despite the slosh at the beginning of the forecast.
June 05 - RUC13 - Surface-based CAPE and CIN output fields
were added in June 2005 (with the 13km RUC implementation) to
previous best CAPE/CIN fields. Since the lowest 7 RUC native levels
are averaged (see above), the surface-based CAPE/CIN in the RUC is equivalent
to a mixed-layer CAPE (MLCAPE).
CIN - convective inhibition - indicates negative buoyancy in layer through which a potentially buoyant parcel must be lifted before becoming positively buoyant. Thresholds are shown at 75 W/m*m (marginally strong capping inversion, depicted with loose cross-hatching) and 100 W/m*m (strong cap, depicted with tight cross-hatching).
Lifted index / Best lifted index -
Lifted index uses the surface parcel, and best lifted index uses
buoyant parcel from native RUC level
with maximum buoyancy within 180 hPa of surface (changed to 300 hPa
on 6 May 1999).
Precipitable water
Helicity and storm motion
(May 2002 - RUC20 - uses
Bunkers et al. 2000, Weather and Forecasting. Corrections to helicity calculation.)
(27 May 2003 - 0-1 km helicity added to ruc_presm files in addition to previous
0-3 km helicity)
- Helicity is calculated using a technique similar to that used for the Eta. following discussion is modified from a discussion of the Eta helicity product on the NCEP/EMC FAQ web page:
Storm-relative helicity is now computed using the Internal Dynamics (ID) method (Bunkers et al, 2000). Prior to March 2000, the model used the Davies and Johns method in which supercell motion is estimated to be 30 degrees to the right and 85% of the mean wind vector for a 850-300 hPa mean wind < 15 knots and 75% of the mean wind vector for a 850-300 hPa mean wind > 15 knots. This method works very well in situations with "classic" severe-weather hodographs but works poorly in events characterized by atypical hodographs featuring either weak flow or unusual wind profiles (such as northwest flow). The ID method has been found to perform as well as the Davies and Johns method in the classic cases and much better in the atypical cases. The ID method includes an advective component (associated with the 0-6 km pressure-weighted mean wind) and a propagation component (associated with supercell dynamics) that adjusts the motion along a line orthogonal to the 0-6 km mean vertical wind shear vector. A storm motion vector is computed, and this is used to compute helicity. The relevant model fields and WMO parameter ID's are:
VALUE PARAMETER UNITS 190 Storm-relative Helicity m**2/s**2 191 U-component Storm Motion m/s 192 V-component Storm Motion m/s Again, as of May 2003, the RUC outputs both 0-1 km as well as 0-3 km helicityReferences:
Bunkers, M. J., and co-authors, 2000: Predicting supercell motion using a new hodograph technique. Wea. Forecasting, 15, 61-79.
Davies, J. M., and R. H. Johns, 1993: Some wind and instability parameters associated with strong and violent tornadoes. Part I: Wind shear and helicity. The tornado: Its Structure, Dynamics, Prediction, and Hazards, Geophys. Monogr., No. 79, Amer. Geophys. Union, 573-582.
What about the high values of helicity?
The units of helicity are m^2/s^2. The value of 150 is generally
considered to be the low threshold for tornado formation. Helicity is
basically a
measure of the low-level shear, so in high shear situations, such as
behind strong cold fronts or ahead of warm fronts, the values will be
very large
maybe as high as 1500. High negative values are also possible in
reverse shear situations.
Soil moisture Tropopause Pressure -
RUC13 update (The RUC vertical motion is at a given time step and is not time-averaged.) The RUC vertical velocity (omega = dp/dt) is diagnosed in the RUC model and is not a part of the RUC pronostic equation set. It is calculated from 3 terms: 1) vertical motion through coordinate surfaces, 2) vertical motion of the coordinate surfaces, and 3) vertical motion along the coordinate surfaces. See Benjamin et al. (2004 - MWR - RUC model) - see p.15 for more information and the omega equation used in section 4.c. Note -- since omega (dp/dt) is relative to pressure, a positive value (increasing pressure) means decreasing height and a negative valud (decreasing pressure) means upward vertical motion with respect to height. RUC13 fix - The effects of diabatic heating in term 1 above were exaggerated in previous versions before the RUC13. This is now corrected.
[Following is a write-up from 1998
on RUC vertical motion, but
first read information above and Benjamin et al. 2004-MWR paper.]
The vertical motion, -omega, positive upward,
in the hybrid-coordinate RUC model
is diagnosed , using the formula
-omega = -Dp/Dt = -[(partial p/partial t)_s +
(vector V_H dot del_s) p + sdot*(partial p / partial s)],
where p is pressure, V_H is the horizontal velocity vector, del_s is the gradient operator on a hybrid coordinate surface sdot is,s the rate at which air parcels are moving vertically with respect to the hybrid coordinate, s, which increases vertically, and (partial p / partial s) expresses the decrease in pressure with increasing s.
Omega is not actually needed to solve the RUC's model governing equations. It is, instead, a diagnosed quantity that is provided to see the effective vertical motion in the RUC model. The three terms of the omega equation correspond to:
- Motion through coordinate surfaces. This term is quite large on sigma levels, but zero on isentropic levels except in the event of diabatic processes (e.g., latent heat release, evaporation, radiational heating/cooling).
- Local movement of the surfaces. For isentropic surfaces, this can be considerable and corresponds roughly to the phase speed of the entire weather system. For sigma levels, it is negligible.
- Upslope/downslope motion of the horizontal wind on the coordinate surfaces. This is the classical upglide/downglide term that makes it easy to see vertical motion on isentropic coordinates. In sigma coordintes, it corresponds primarily to terrain-forced motion.
An important factor to bear in mind when considering model-produced vertical
motion concerns a fundamental aspect of flow
patterns in the middle latitudes. That is, above the planetary
boundary layer,
the Coriolis force and the
horizontal component of the pressure-gradient force tend to be in balance
in synoptic-scale weather systems. This means that the horizontal winds
tend to be approximately geostrophic and that the typical relative vorticity
of these winds is typically much larger in magnitude
than their horizontal divergence.
As a result, vertical motions in synoptic-scale systems are usually small,
particularly outside areas of heavy precipitation.
However, for smaller, more rapidly changing mesoscale motion fields, this
constraint toward geostrophic balance imposed by the earth's rotation is
less strong, and divergence and vorticity will often have about the same
magnitude. With stronger divergence, vertical motions are typically also
stronger for mesoscale motions.
PBL depth
gust wind speed cloud base height (ceiling) cloud top height cloud fraction
Cloud layers in the RUC are defined as follows:
- low - lowest 10 native levels (approximately lowest 50-75 hPa)
- middle - above lowest 10 native levels and below 400 hPa level
- high - above 400 hPa level
visibility
- RUC extension of Stoelinga-Warner (JAM, 1999) algorithm- modified attenuation coefficients for hydrometeor types
- day/night dependency for attenuation coefficients from Roy Rasmussen
- additional visibility attenuation term for graupel
- additional relative humidity dependency developed by RUC group
- wind speed dependency based on M.S. paper by Evan Kuchera
pressure of maximum equivalent potential temperature in column
- From RUC CAPE/CIN routine.convective cloud top height
- From RUC CAPE/CIN routine. This is the level at which negative buoyant energy cancels out the CAPE below the equilibrium level. It is also equivalent to the height at which vertical velocity goes to zero (assuming no entrainment). Height above sea level.equilibrium level height
- From RUC CAPE/CIN routine. Height at which parcel is no longer buoyant. Height above sea level.(Back to RUC/MAPS homepage)
Prepared by Stan Benjamin stan.benjamin@noaa.gov, 303-497-6387