MESO, Inc.

Numerical Model Devlopment

Mesoscale Model Development

MESO Inc. continuously improves the Mesoscale Atmospheric Simulation System (MASS) model’s configuration, data assimilation techniques, and microphysics for better simulation capability. Recent improvements include:

• development of a nonhydrostatic option
• installation of a Turbulent Kinetic Energy (TKE) boundary layer scheme
• implementation of a new data assimilation method based on a technique called incremental update analysis (IAU)

Incremental update analysis reduces the impact of errors in the observed data as it is assimilated into the model. This technique greatly reduced the model spin-up time for developing clouds and precipitation after ingesting rawinsonde sounding data.

MESO, in conjunction with Science Applications International (SAIC),developed the Operational Mesoscale Environment model with Grid Adaptivity (OMEGA) that has an adaptive grid. The adaptive grid allows the numerical simulations to take place on an unstructured grid that can be modified to produce higher resolution when and where it is needed during the simulation.