Global expansion of the regional models of
atmosphere through a framework of quasi-uniform rectangular grids :
Possible application for improving hurricanes prediction
Miodrag
Rancic
University of Maryland
Abstract:
Quasi-uniform
rectangular spherical grids, such as cubic and octagonal, were
introduced in an attempt to
outsmart spherical geometry and avoid negative effects of converging of
coordinated lines in
global models of the atmosphere. This
talk will review a project in which these quasi-uniform
grids were employed for a global expansion of the regional atmospheric
models. Though the
regional Eta model is used as a prototype in this project, the
developed numerical infrastructure
is transferable and applicable to other regional models, including WRF
model.
The problems encountered during work on this project and explored
solutions will be discussed, with the
special highlights on introduction of the variable resolution, first
integrations with the full physics, and
introduction of a new vector discretization technique.
Several avenues for further development and possible applications will be mentioned in the summary, with the emphasis on possible improvement of hurricanes prediction.