How Does Assimilating UAS Observations from the SCALES Field Campaign Impact Forecasts of Heavy Rainfall from Hurricane Francine?
Presenter Abstract
The Small-UAS Coordination for Atmospheric Low-Level Environmental Sampling (SCALES) project collected coordinated UAS observations around much of northeastern Oklahoma from September 8-13 2024 as part of that year’s ISARRA conference and field week. Although the weather that week in Oklahoma was benign, Hurricane Francine made landfall well to the southeast in Louisiana on 11 September and brought heavy rainfall to much of the lower Mississippi Valley over the next two days. All UAS sampling sites from SCALES were located outside of Hurricane Francine’s circulation; however, they may have sampled features upstream of Hurricane Francine which could impact its evolution as it moved inland. This study will present results from assimilating SCALES UAS observations into a 1 km WRF ensemble using DART to examine whether these observations contribute to better analyses of the environment upstream of Hurricane Francine, and whether any analysis improvements translate into improved ensemble forecasts of the hurricane’s heavy rainfall.
Presentations
Presented in Session 10: Data Modeling
How Does Assimilating UAS Observations from the SCALES Field Campaign Impact Forecasts of Heavy Rainfall from Hurricane Francine?
The Small-UAS Coordination for Atmospheric Low-Level Environmental Sampling (SCALES) project collected coordinated UAS observations around much of northeastern Oklahoma from September 8-13 2024 as part of that year’s ISARRA conference and field week. Although the weather that week in Oklahoma was benign, Hurricane Francine made landfall well to the southeast in Louisiana on 11 September and brought heavy rainfall to much of the lower Mississippi Valley over the next two days. All UAS sampling sites from SCALES were located outside of Hurricane Francine’s circulation; however, they may have sampled features upstream of Hurricane Francine which could impact its evolution as it moved inland. This study will present results from assimilating SCALES UAS observations into a 1 km WRF ensemble using DART to examine whether these observations contribute to better analyses of the environment upstream of Hurricane Francine, and whether any analysis improvements translate into improved ensemble forecasts of the hurricane’s heavy rainfall.