Luke E. Madaus, Gregory J. Hakim, and Clifford. F. Mass
Mon. Wea. Rev., 141, submitted
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington,Seattle, WA
The use of dense pressure observations is investigated for creating mesoscale ensemble analyses and improving short-term mesoscale forecasts. By exploiting novel observation platforms, the number of pressure observations over the Pacific Northwest region is increased by an order of magnitude over standard airport observations. Quality control and bias correction methods for these observations are discussed, including the use of pressure tendency as an alternative observation type with fewer bias concerns. The enhanced station density provided by these observations contributes to localized adjustments of the environment for a variety of mesoscale phenomena. These adjusted analyses yield improved forecasts, including more accurate forecasts of frontal passages and convective bands. Assimilating dense three-hour pressure tendency observations also reduces the error in forecast surface fields similarly to raw pressure observations, suggesting their viability for mesoscale analysis and forecast improvement.