The ECMWF re-analysis for the AMMA observational campaign
| Title |
The ECMWF re-analysis for the AMMA observational campaign
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Technical memorandum
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| Date Published |
12/2009
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| Secondary Title |
ECMWF Technical Memoranda
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| Number |
612
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| Author |
Anna Agusti-Panareda
Anton Beljaars
Maike Ahlgrimm
O. Bock
A Ghelli
F. Guichard
M. Köhler
R. Meynadier
J.-J. Morcrette
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| Publisher |
ECMWF
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| Abstract | During the 2006 African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA) field experiment an unprecedented number of soundings were performed in West Africa. However, due to technical problems many of these soundings did not reach the Global Telecommunication System and therefore they could not be included in the operational Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) analyses. This issue, together with the realization that there was a significant bias in the radiosonde humidity, lead to the conclusion that a re-analysis effort was necessary. This re-analysis was performed at ECMWF spanning the wet monsoon season of 2006 from May to September. The key features of the ECMWF AMMA re-analysis are presented, including the use of a newer model version with improved physics, all the AMMA radiosonde data available from the AMMA database and a new radiosonde humidity bias correction scheme. Data impact experiments show that there is a benefit from these observations, but also highlight large model physics biases over the Sahel which cause a short lived impact of the observations on the model forecast. The AMMA re-analysis is compared with independent observations to investigate the biases in the different parts of the physics. In the framework of the AMMA project, a hybrid dataset was developed to provide a best estimate of the different terms of the water cycle. This hybrid dataset is used to evaluate the improvement achieved from the use of extra AMMA observations and of a radiosonde humidity bias correction scheme in the water cycle of the West African monsoon. Finally, future model developments that offer promising improvements in the water cycle are discussed. |
| URL | https://stage.ecmwf.int/en/elibrary/73388-ecmwf-re-analysis-amma-observational-campaign |
| DOI | 10.21957/7mrvtf61j |
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