Assimilation of Polarimetric Radar Data Using an Ensemble Kalman Filter for the Analysis and Forecast of Tropical Storm Ewiniar

This study explores the potential for directly assimilating polarimetric radar data (including reflectivity Z and differential reflectivity ZDR) using an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) based on the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to improve analysis and forecast of Tropical Storm Ewiniar (2018). Ewiniar weakened but brought about heavy rainfall over Guangdong, China after its final landfall. Two experiments are performed, one assimilating only Z and the other assimilating both Z and ZDR. Assimilation of ZDR together with Z effectively modifies hydrometeor fields, and improves the intensity, shape and position of rainbands. Forecast of 24-hour extraordinary rainfall ≥250 mm is significantly improved. Improvement can also be seen in the wind fields because of cross-variable covariance. The current study shows the possibility of applying polarimetric radar data to improve forecasting of tropical cyclones, which deserves more researches in the future.     

集合数据同化方法的发展与应用概述

集合数据同化方法具有简洁概念化的公式和应用起来相对容易等优点,因此,它们获得了普及性的应用;近10年来集合数据同化方法已经得到了快速的发展。综述了包括集合卡尔曼滤波(EnKF,Ensemble Kalman Filter)、集合卡尔曼平滑(EnKS,Ensemble Kalman Smoother)、集合方均根滤波(EnSRF,Ensemble Square-Root Filter)和减秩卡尔曼滤波(SEEK,Singular Evolutive Extended Kalman Filter)等集合数据同化方法的研究进展状况。通过与其它数据同化方法的对比,总结出了这些方法的特点,探讨了我国在集合数据同化方法研究中存在的问题并展望了该方法的研究和应用前景。     

Time-Expanded Sampling Approach for Ensemble Kalman Filter:Experiment Assimilation of Simulated Soundings

In the Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) data assimilation-prediction system, most of the computation time is spent on the prediction runs of ensemble members. A limited or small ensemble size does reduce the computational cost, but an excessively small ensemble size usually leads to filter divergence, especially when there are model errors. In order to improve the efficiency of the EnKF data assimilation-prediction system and prevent it against filter divergence, a time-expanded sampling approach for EnKF based on the WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) model is used to assimilate simulated sounding data. The approach samples a series of perturbed state vectors from Nb member prediction runs not only at the analysis time (as the conventional approach does) but also at equally separated time levels (time interval is △t) before and after the analysis time with M times. All the above sampled state vectors are used to construct the ensemble and compute the background covariance for the analysis, so the ensemble size is increased from Nb to Nb+2M￡Nb=(1+2M)×Nb) without increasing the number of prediction runs (it is still Nb). This reduces the computational cost. A series of experiments are conducted to investigate the impact of △t (the time interval of time-expanded sampling) and M (the maximum sampling times) on the analysis. The results show that if △t and M are properly selected, the time-expanded sampling approach achieves the similar effect to that from the conventional approach with an ensemble size of (1+2M)×Nb, but the number of prediction runs is greatly reduced.     

基于AMSR-E土壤湿度产品的LIS同化试验

由陆面信息系统 (Land Information System, 简称LIS) 通过NOAH陆面过程模型使用集合卡尔曼滤波开展AMSR-E (Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-Earth Observing System) 土壤湿度同化试验,得到2003年中国区域垂直深度为4层、水平空间分辨率为0.25°×0.25°的土壤湿度试验数据。使用农业气象观测站土壤相对湿度和国家生态系统野外科学观测研究站土壤体积含水量对试验结果进行检验,结果表明:同化过程整体上提高了陆面模型的模拟精度,草地生态系统模拟精度高于作物和森林生态系统;有效的同化过程依赖于AMSR-E土壤湿度的准确性;模拟出的土壤湿度空间分布特征与实际相符。同化试验得到的时空相对连续且精度相对准确的土壤湿度数据是气候变化和干旱监测的重要数据基础。     

Particle Filter-based assimilation algorithms for improved estimation of root-zone soil moisture under dynamic vegetation conditions

In this study, we implement Particle Filter (PF)-based assimilation algorithms to improve root-zone soil moisture (RZSM) estimates from a coupled SVAT-vegetation model during a growing season of sweet corn in North Central Florida. The results from four different PF algorithms were compared with those from the Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) when near-surface soil moisture was assimilated every 3 days using both synthetic and field observations. In the synthetic case, the PF algorithm with the best performance used residual resampling of the states and obtained resampled parameters from a uniform distribution and provided reductions of 76% in root mean square error (RMSE) over the openloop estimates. The EnKF provided the RZSM and parameter estimates that were closer to the truth than the PF with an 84% reduction in RMSE. When field observations were assimilated, the PF algorithm that maintained maximum parameter diversity offered the largest reduction of 16% in root mean square difference (RMSD) over the openloop estimates. Minimal differences were observed in the overall performance of the EnKF and PF using field observations since errors in model physics affected both the filters in a similar manner, with maximum reductions in RMSD compared to the openloop during the mid and reproductive stages.     

Exploring the performance of spatio-temporal assimilation in an urban cellular automata model

Urban cellular automata (CA) models propagate and accumulate errors during the modeling process due to the model structure or stochastic processes involved. It is feasible to assimilate real-time observations into an urban CA model to reduce model uncertainties. However, the assimilation performance is sensitive to the spatio-temporal units in the assimilation algorithm, that is, spatial block size and window length (temporal interval). In this study, we coupled an assimilation model, an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) and a Logistic-CA model to simulate the urban dynamic in Beijing over a period of two decades. Our results indicate that the coupled EnKF-CA model outperforms the CA-alone counterpart by about 10% in terms of the figure of merit, which reflects the agreement of modeled pixels. We also find that the assimilation performance using a finer block (1 km) is better than that using a coarser block (5 km and 10 km) because of the better depiction of spatial heterogeneity using a finer block. Moreover, the improvement of intermediate outputs using the coupled EnKF-CA model is effective for a certain period (e.g. 5 years). This implies that a high-frequency assimilation may not significantly improve the model performance. The sensitivity analyses of spatio-temporal assimilation in the EnKF-CA model provide a better understanding of the assimilation mechanism that couples with land-use change models.     

EnKF协方差膨胀算法对雷达资料同化的影响研究

基于集合卡尔曼滤波(EnKF)方法同化模拟雷达径向风和回波,引入具有时空自适应理论优势的贝叶斯膨胀算法,通过与常数膨胀算法的对比,分析了两种协方差膨胀算法对EnKF同化效果的影响。结果表明:在对流区域的北侧,由贝叶斯膨胀算法分析得到的回波在水平和垂直结构上均增强;在对流区域,由贝叶斯膨胀算法分析得到的各变量的集合离散度增大,均方根误差减小,水平和垂直速度增大,冷池强度减弱;模拟还发现贝叶斯膨胀算法提高了强对流系统的模拟效果,回波强度增强,阵风锋区内水平和垂直风速增大。这表明贝叶斯膨胀算法有效地改进了基于常数膨胀算法的EnKF同化雷达资料的效果。     

上海邻近海域风暴潮数据同化与特征分析

风暴潮是一种复杂的对众多因素敏感又备受关注的海洋现象。本文基于协方差局地化的集合卡尔曼滤波方法（EnKF）,选择201810号台风“安比”登陆上海的风暴潮过程,首次将海洋站和FVCOM数值模拟的不同来源、不同误差信息、不同时空分辨率的风暴潮进行数据同化融合,获得了逐72 h的上海海域风暴潮的最优解,进行了同化结果评估验证,并给出了集合样本数和Schur半径设置范围。结果表明,实测计算和数值模拟的风暴增减水之间均方根误差为0.20 m,实测和同化计算的风暴增减水之间均方根误差为0.07 m,准确度提高了65%;独立观测和同化计算的风暴增减水均方根误差为0.09 m,集合离散度与均方根误差比值为0.90,同化效果较好且可信;同化后的风暴增减水能够较好地刻画双峰增水、台风眼增水、增水锋面等特征,对于风暴潮研究、数值模拟结果订正、海洋防灾减灾等有重要意义。     

Assimilating snow observations to snow interception process simulations

Snow interception is a crucial hydrological process in cold regions needleleaf forests, but is rarely measured directly. Indirect estimates of snow interception can be made by measuring the difference in the increase in snow accumulation between the forest floor and a nearby clearing over the course of a storm. Pairs of automatic weather stations with acoustic snow depth sensors provide an opportunity to estimate this, if snow density can be estimated reliably. Three approaches for estimating fresh snow density were investigated: weighted post-storm density increments from the physically based Snobal model, fresh snow density estimated empirically from air temperature (Hedstrom, N. R., et al. [1998]. Hydrological Processes, 12, 1611–1625), and fresh snow density estimated empirically from air temperature and wind speed (Jordan, R. E., et al. [1999]. Journal of Geophysical Research, 104, 7785–7806). Automated snow depth observations from adjacent forest and clearing sites and estimated snow densities were used to determine snowstorm snow interception in a subalpine forest in the Canadian Rockies, Alberta, Canada. Then the estimated snow interception and measured interception information from a weighed, suspended tree and a time-lapse camera were assimilated into a model, which was created using the Cold Regions Hydrological Modelling platform (CRHM), using Ensemble Kalman Filter or a simple rule-based direct insertion method. Interception determined using density estimates from the Hedstrom-Pomeroy fresh snow density equation agreed best with observations. Assimilating snow interception information from automatic snow depth measurements improved modelled snow interception timing by 7% and magnitude by 13%, compared to an open loop simulation driven by a numerical weather model; its accuracy was close to that simulated using locally observed meteorological data. Assimilation of tree-measured snow interception improved the snow interception simulation timing and magnitude by 18 and 19%, respectively. Time-lapse camera snow interception information assimilation improved the snow interception simulation timing by 32% and magnitude by 7%. The benefits of assimilation were greatly influenced by assimilation frequency and quality of the forcing data.     

An adaptive hybrid EnKF-OI scheme for efficient state-parameter estimation of reactive contaminant transport models

Reactive contaminant transport models are used by hydrologists to simulate and study the migration and fate of industrial waste in subsurface aquifers. Accurate transport modeling of such waste requires clear understanding of the system’s parameters, such as sorption and biodegradation. In this study, we present an efficient sequential data assimilation scheme that computes accurate estimates of aquifer contamination and spatially variable sorption coefficients. This assimilation scheme is based on a hybrid formulation of the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) and optimal interpolation (OI) in which solute concentration measurements are assimilated via a recursive dual estimation of sorption coefficients and contaminant state variables. This hybrid EnKF-OI scheme is used to mitigate background covariance limitations due to ensemble under-sampling and neglected model errors. Numerical experiments are conducted with a two-dimensional synthetic aquifer in which cobalt-60, a radioactive contaminant, is leached in a saturated heterogeneous clayey sandstone zone. Assimilation experiments are investigated under different settings and sources of model and observational errors. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed hybrid EnKF-OI scheme successfully recovers both the contaminant and the sorption rate and reduces their uncertainties. Sensitivity analyses also suggest that the adaptive hybrid scheme remains effective with small ensembles, allowing to reduce the ensemble size by up to 80% with respect to the standard EnKF scheme.