MESO performed several studies for the NASA Space Shuttle program. These include using TASS, a non-hydrostatic cloud model, to simulate and study the diffusion and transport of the space shuttle exhaust cloud. Also, MESO researched the feasibility of utilizing a mesoscale numerical weather prediction system for use in shuttle operations. This involved using available satellite, radar, and surface data sets to initialize the MASS model and test the hypothesis that the introduction of this information into the model will result in improvements in the accuracy of the prediction of an observed squall line which produces severe convection at the Kennedy Space Center.
An example of this research was the Mesoscale Acid Deposition Studies (MADS), which was a joint project among MESO, the NASA Langley Research Center, and the EPA. MESO's numerical models were used to diagnose the meso-beta scale transport of atmospheric constituents in the vicinity of urban areas for cases in which extensive field measurements of rain water chemistry were made as part of the MADS field program. The winds generated by MESO's models were used as input into an atmospheric chemistry model which was used to understand the measurements made in the field program.
MESO has performed a great deal of research for the military for such projects as helping in the development of a 3-D atmospheric simulation system for use in various mobile battlefield environments. Another example is the research and development of the MASS and TASS models for use in meeting the operational prediction requirements for military missions in the Kwajalein Atoll region.
MESO has had several projects that deal with the dispersion of hazardous substances including nuclear fallout. As part of the Dispersal Hazards Definition Program, the Operational Mesoscale Environment model with Grid Adaptivity (OMEGA) was developed in conjunction with Science Applicatons International (SAIC) for the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA). The goal of the program is to accurately simulate the dispersion of hazardous substances in the atmosphere. A significant innovation incorporated into the design of the modeling system, is the use of an unstructured adaptive grid. The adaptive grid uses triangular prisms rather than the customary fixed and structured grid of rectangular boxes as is used in most atmospheric models. MESO has also performed research of the nuclear fireball simulation studies with the 3-dimensional TASS model and helped with the scientific support for the development of multiple nuclear cloud prediction methods.
MESO has researched topics of interest to the power utilities industry. For example, MESO researched the urban heat island modeling for short term electric load forecasting. The major objectives of this project were (1) to determine the extent to which a high resolution atmospheric model could accurately simulate urban scale variations in meteorological variables attributable to variations in surface properties (e.g. thermal capacity of the surface materials, albedo, density of vegetation) and (2) to test the hypothesis that this urban-scale meteorological variability has a discernible and significant impact on short-term variations in electric load in a particular metropolitan area.
MESO has become a specialist in developing and setting up real-time forecasting systems. MESO used MASS to set up a special real-time forecasting system to support the Genesis of Atlantic Lows (GALE) project. They also have helped with the implementation and maintenance of MASS as a real-time simulation capability at the Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Saint Louis University, and the University of Barcelona, Spain.
MESO works with several universities to help bring mesoscale numerical modeling into the class room. These include Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Saint Louis University, and the University of Barcelona Spain. MESO has a proposed project to create a virtual atmospheric laboratory (VAL) by creating an interactive software package that is driven by a mesoscale model.
MESO has performed research into topics relating to aviation safety. Several modeling studies were performed to investigte cloud-scale convective initiated wind shear. An example of such research was using the TASS cloud model to better define the environment in which hazardous convective scale wind shear events, e.g., convective microbursts, occur.
MESO has researched many areas relating the atmospheric impact to agriculture. One such area is improving the model of mold spore transport with the MASS model by simulate the transport blue mold spore into western North Carolina from various source regions, including the effects of transport over complex terrain. Another area MESO has worked in is the development and operational (i.e. real-time) implementation of a high resolution model of the grape canopy-atmosphere system linked to a 3-D mesoscale atmospheric model for the purpose of providing detailed real-time weather data to a grape disease model. MESO has also worked on the development of a Canopy Weather Forecast System (CWFS) based on a site-specific 1-D soil-canopy-atmospheric boundary layer numerical model which is coupled to a 3-D mesoscale atmospheric numerical model. The output from the CWFS will be designed for input into a variety of models that provide direct information for crop management decision-making
MESO had been at the forefront of developing of methods to generate high resolution climatological databases from long-term simulations generated by a mesoscale atmospheric simulation model. MESO is currently creating and validating hourly 10 Km resolution climatologies for the Eastern Great Lakes - Upstate New York, Korea and the Middle East.
Model Development |
Forecasting Research |
Climate Research |
Project History |
| This page managed by sandi@meso.com | Last modified: Jan. 4, 1998 |