Nested domains

3 nested computational domain of MM5. This is the original MM5 system we built for KITES. This setup was used to re-build the meso-scale fields of surface wind and heat flux for 1999 based on NCEP output. The updated version of MM5 that has been upgraded to 3 domains with horizontal resolutions of 27, 9 and 3 km.

All NOAA buoys and coastal weather stations are included in the nudging data assimilation. The SST was also nudged into the model for the surface heat flux estimation. The heat flux calculation used in this system was the one modified by Chen et al. (2005).

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An example of MM5 wind animation

The Lake Superior MM5 was set up at UMASS-D and run to provide the 1999 wind field for KITES project. With assimilated buoy winds, MM5 provided a much better wind field than the interpolated wind fields from the coastal weather stations. The animation shown here is just an example.

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An example of MM5 surface heat flux animation

This animation is just an example showing the ability of MM5 in resolving the meso-scale varability of the surface heat flux in Lake Superior. The updated Lake Superior MM5 has included the satellite-derived SST for the heat budget estimation.

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Wind field interpolated from all surrounding weather stations plus NOAA buoys

This is an animation showing the daily distribution of the surface wind interpolated from weather stations around the coast and NOAA buoys in the lake. An empirical relationship between the land and water wind was used to convert the land wind to the water wind.

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