Carolyn A. Reynolds's research while affiliated with United States Naval Research Laboratory and other places

Publications (96)

Article
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The Makassar Peninsula in southwestern Sulawesi, Indonesia, experienced its largest flood in its recorded history in January 2019. Four-day accumulated rainfall exceeded 350 mm with devastating impacts on the community, including 53 perished and over 14 thousand evacuated. Previous studies find a convectively coupled Kelvin wave and convectively co...
Article
6th WGNE workshop on systematic errors in weather and climate models What: Scientists, ranging from early career to highly experienced, involved in the development of weather and climate models and in the diagnosis of model errors, held an international workshop to discuss the nature, causes and remedies of systematic errors across timescales and a...
Article
The influence of the surface latent and surface sensible heat flux on the development and interaction of an idealized extratropical cyclone (termed “primary”) with an upstream cyclone (termed “upstream”) using the Navy’s Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS) is analyzed. The primary cyclone develops from an initial perturbat...
Article
Potential vorticity streamers (PVSs) are elongated filaments of high PV air near the tropopause. In the warm season, anticyclonic Rossby wave breaking (AWB) produces enhanced PVS activity, which in turn modifies the equatorward tropical environment by enhancing vertical wind shear (VWS). This enhanced VWS can play an important role in suppressing n...
Article
Under the Atmospheric River Reconnaissance (AR Recon) Program, ocean drifting buoys (drifters) that provide surface pressure observations were deployed in the northeastern Pacific Ocean to improve forecasts of U.S. West Coast high-impact weather. We examine the impacts of both AR Recon and non-AR Recon drifter observations in the U.S. Navy’s global...
Article
Moist static energy (MSE) and ocean heat content (OHC) in the tropics are inextricably linked. The processes by which sources and sinks of OHC modulate column integrated MSE in the Indian Ocean (IO) are explored through a reformulation of the MSE budget using atmosphere and ocean reanalysis data. In the reframed MSE budget, interfacial air-sea turb...
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Constraints in power consumption and computational power limit the skill of operational numerical weather prediction by classical computing methods. Quantum computing could potentially address both of these challenges. Herein, we present one method to perform fluid dynamics calculations that takes advantage of quantum computing. This hybrid quantum...
Preprint
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Constraints in power consumption and computational power limit the skill of operational numerical weather prediction by classical computing methods. Quantum computing could potentially address both of these challenges. Herein, we present one method to perform fluid dynamics calculations that takes advantage of quantum computing. This hybrid quantum...
Article
Atmospheric River Reconnaissance (AR Recon) is a targeted campaign that complements other sources of observational data, forming part of a diverse observing system. AR Recon 2021 operated for ten weeks from January 13 to March 22, with 29.5 Intensive Observation Periods (IOPs), 45 flights and 1142 successful dropsondes deployed in the northeast Pac...
Article
An analysis of the surface latent heat flux (SLHF) influence on the accumulated precipitation associated with an idealized extratropical cyclone using the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System is presented. There are two distinct precipitation regions found to be strongly influenced by the SLHF, referred to as the primary maximum and...
Article
The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is a key source of predictability in the subseasonal timescale (weeks-months) and influences a wide range of weather and climate phenomena. Although there have been enormous gains in simulating the MJO, many climate and forecast models still have biases in MJO behavior and structure. In this study, we examine the...
Article
A high-impact atmospheric river (AR) event that made landfall on the U.S. West Coast on Valentine’s Day of 2019 and produced widespread flooding in California is examined. The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory cloud resolving and high-resolution Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS) captures the main features impacting the life...
Article
High-fidelity analyses and forecasts of integrated vapor transport (VT) are central to the study of earth’s hydrological cycle as well as high-impact phenomena such as monsoons and atmospheric rivers. The impact of the in-line Analysis Correction-based Additive Inflation (ACAI) on IVT biases and forecast errors is examined within the Navy Earth Sys...
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Mesoscale eddies dominate energetics of the ocean, modify mass, heat and freshwater transport and primary production in the upper ocean. However, the forecast skill horizon for ocean mesoscales in current operational models is shorter than 10 days: eddy-resolving ocean models, with horizontal resolution finer than 10 km in mid-latitudes, represent...
Article
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This paper describes the new global Navy Earth System Prediction Capability (Navy‐ESPC) coupled atmosphere‐ocean‐sea ice prediction system developed at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) for operational forecasting for timescales of days to the subseasonal. Two configurations of the system are validated: (1) a low‐resolution 16‐member ensemble sys...
Article
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A simple parameter nudging procedure is described that systematically reduces near‐analysis time errors in the surface net shortwave flux in the Navy ESPC (Earth System Prediction Capability) system, a global coupled forecast system that is the product of a continuing development effort at the U. S. Naval Research Laboratory. The procedure generate...
Article
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Patterns of correlations between the ocean and the atmosphere are examined using a high-resolution (1/12° ocean and ice, and 1/3° atmosphere) ensemble of data assimilative, coupled, global, ocean-atmosphere forecasts. This provides a unique perspective into atmosphere-ocean interactions constrained by assimilated observations, allowing for the cont...
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An analysis of the influence and sensitivity of moisture in an idealized two-dimensional moist semigeostrophic frontogenesis model is presented. A comparison between a dry (relative humidity, RH=0%) and moist (RH=80%) version of the model demonstrates that the impact of moisture is to increase frontogenesis, strengthen the transverse circulation (...
Article
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This paper illustrates that analysis corrections, when applied as a model tendency term, can be used to improve non-linear model forecasts and is consistent with the hypothesis that they represent an additive 6-hour accumulation of model error. Comparison of mean analysis corrections with observational estimates of bias further illustrates the fide...
Article
A key aim of observational campaigns is to sample atmosphere-ocean phenomena to improve understanding of these phenomena, and in turn, numerical weather prediction. In early 2018 and 2019, the Atmospheric River Reconnaissance (AR Recon) campaign released dropsondes and radiosondes into atmospheric rivers (ARs) over the northeast Pacific Ocean to co...
Article
Water management and flood control are major challenges in the western United States. They are heavily influenced by atmospheric river (AR) storms that produce both beneficial water supply and hazards; for example, 84% of all flood damages in the West (up to 99% in key areas) are associated with ARs. However, AR landfall forecast position errors ca...
Article
Atmospheric Rivers, often associated with impactful weather along the West Coast of North America, can be a challenge to forecast even on short timescales. This is attributed, at least in part, to the scarcity of Eastern Pacific in situ observations. We examine the impact of assimilating dropsonde observations collected during the Atmospheric River...
Article
Analysis of a strong landfalling atmospheric river is presented that compares the evolution of a control simulation with that of an adjoint-derived perturbed simulation using the Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System. The initial condition sensitivities are optimized for all state variables to maximize the accumulated precipitation w...
Article
Gravity wave perturbations in 15-μm nadir radiances from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and Cross-Track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) informed scientific flight planning for the Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE). AIRS observations from 2003 to 2011 identified the South Island of New Zealand during June–July as a “natural labora...
Article
The initial state sensitivity of high-impact extratropical cyclones over the North Atlantic and United Kingdom is investigated using an adjoint modeling system that includes moist processes. The adjoint analysis indicates that the 48-h forecast of precipitation and high winds associated with the extratropical cyclone “Desmond” was highly sensitive...
Article
Given the prohibitive expense of running a global coupled high-resolution model for multiweek forecasts, we explore the feasibility of running a limited-area model forced by a global model on monthly time scales. Specifically, we seek to understand the constraints of the accuracy of lateral boundary conditions (LBCs) produced by NAVGEM on the skill...
Article
The initial-state sensitivity and optimal perturbation growth for 24- and 36-h forecasts of low-level kinetic energy and precipitation over California during a series of atmospheric river (AR) events that took place in early 2017 are explored using adjoint-based tools from the Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS). This time...
Article
The extratropical transition (ET) of tropical cyclones often has an important impact on the nature and predictability of the midlatitude flow. This review synthesizes the current understanding of the dynamical and physical processes that govern this impact and highlights the relationship of downstream development during ET to highimpact weather, wi...
Article
Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are responsible for most of the horizontal water vapor flux outside of the tropics and can cause extreme precipitation and affect the atmospheric dynamics and predictability. For their impacts to be skillfully predicted, it is essential for weather forecasting systems to accurately represent AR characteristics. Using the Eu...
Article
A data assimilation system (DAS) is described for global atmospheric reanalysis from 0- to 100-km altitude. We apply it to the 2014 austral winter of the Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE), an international field campaign focused on gravity wave dynamics from 0 to 100 km, where an absence of reanalysis above 60 km inhibits research...
Article
A data assimilation system (DAS) is described for global atmospheric reanalysis from 0-100 km altitude. We apply it to the 2014 austral winter of DEEPWAVE, an international field campaign focused on gravity-wave dynamics from 0-100 km, where an absence of reanalysis above 60 km inhibits research. Four experiments were performed from April-September...
Article
In this study, the contribution of low-frequency ( > 100 days), Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO), and convectively coupled equatorial wave (CCEW) variability to the skill in predicting convection and winds in the tropics at weeks 1-3 is examined. We use subseasonal forecasts from the Navy Earth System Model (NESM); NCEP Climate Forecast System, vers...
Article
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The North Atlantic Waveguide and Downstream Impact Experiment (NAWDEX) explored the impact of diabatic processes on disturbances of the jet stream and their influence on downstream high-impact weather through the deployment of four research aircraft, each with a sophisticated set of remote sensing and in situ instruments, and coordinated with a sui...
Article
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Extratropical transition (ET) is the process by which a tropical cyclone, upon encountering a baroclinic environment and reduced sea surface temperature at higher latitudes, transforms into an extratropical cyclone. This process is influenced by, and influences, phenomena from the tropics to the midlatitudes and from themeso- to the planetary scale...
Article
Atmosphere-ocean interaction, particular the ocean response to strong atmospheric forcing, is a fundamental component of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO). In this paper, we examine how model errors in previous Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) events can affect the simulation of subsequent MJO events due to increased errors that develop in the upp...
Article
The initial-state sensitivity and interactions between a tropical cyclone and atmospheric equatorial Kelvin waves associated with the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) during the DYNAMO field campaign are explored using adjoint-based tools from the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS). The development of Tropical Cyclone 5 (T...
Article
An ensemble forecast system has been developed at the Naval Research Laboratory to improve the analyses and forecasts of atmospheric refractivity for electromagnetic (EM) propagation with the intention of accounting for uncertainties in model forecast errors. Algorithms for a matrix of ensemble statistics have been developed to analyze the probabil...
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The first multimodel study to estimate the predictability of a boreal sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) is performed using five NWP systems. During the 2012/13 boreal winter, anomalous upward propagating planetary wave activity was observed toward the end of December, which was followed by a rapid deceleration of the westerly circulation around 2...
Article
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An ensemble-based forecast and data assimilation system has been developed for use in Navy aerosol forecasting. The system makes use of an ensemble of the Navy Aerosol Analysis Prediction System (ENAAPS) at 1° × 1°, combined with an Ensemble Adjustment Kalman Filter from NCAR's Data Assimilation Research Testbed (DART). The base ENAAPS-DART system...
Article
The statistics of model temporal variability ought to be the same as those of the filtered version of reality that the model is designed to represent. Here, simple diagnostics are introduced to quantify temporal variability on different time scales and are then applied to NCEP and CMC global ensemble forecasting systems. These diagnostics enable co...
Article
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The Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE) was designed to quantify gravity wave (GW) dynamics and effects from orographic and other sources to regions of dissipation at high altitudes. The core DEEPWAVE field phase took place from May through July 2014 using a comprehensive suite of airborne and ground-based instruments providing meas...
Article
The time-expanded sampling (TES) method, designed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of ensemble-based data assimilation and subsequent forecast with reduced ensemble size, is tested with conventional and satellite data for operational applications constrained by computational resources. The test uses the recently developed ensemble Kalman...
Article
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On February 13, 2013, the US Navy's weather forecast system reached a milestone when the NAVy Global Environmental Model (NAVGEM) replaced the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS) for operational global weather prediction. The new operational system NAVGEM 1.1 combines a semi-Lagrangian/semi-implicit dynamical core togethe...
Article
The evolution and structure of stratospheric singular vectors (SVs) during the major stratospheric sudden warming (SSW) of January 2009 are investigated. SV analyses, optimized for growth at stratospheric levels over 72 h, were examined for selected dates before and during the SSW. It was found that the initial and final SV fields have larger horiz...
Article
The sensitivity and predictability of a rapidly developing extratropical cyclone, Xynthia, that had a severe impact on Europe is explored using a high-resolution moist adjoint modeling system. The adjoint diagnostics indicate that the intensity of severe winds associated with the front just prior to landfall was particularly sensitive to perturbati...
Article
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The impacts of assimilating dropwindsonde data and enhanced atmospheric motion vectors (AMVs) on tropical cyclone track forecasts are examined using the Navy global data assimilation and forecasting systems. Enhanced AMVs have the largest impact on eastern Pacific storms, while dropwindsonde data have the largest impact on Atlantic storms. Results...
Article
The sensitivity of tropical cyclogenesis and subsequent intensification is explored by applying small perturbations to the initial state in the presence of organized mesoscale convection and synoptic-scale forcing using the adjoint and tangent linear models for the Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS). The forward, adjoint,...
Article
The sensitivity of singular vectors (SVs) associated with Hurricane Helene (2006) to resolution and diabatic processes is investigated. Furthermore, the dynamics of their growth are analyzed. The SVs are calculated using the tangent linear and adjoint model of the integrated forecasting system (IFS) of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather F...
Conference Paper
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The US Navy maintains a suite of atmospheric forecast systems including the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS). NOGAPS was developed at the Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey (NRL Monterey) for basic and applied atmospheric research and used for operational numerical weather prediction for the broad DoD and civilian com...
Technical Report
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“Targeted observations” refers to the augmentation of the regular observing network with additional, specially chosen observations to be assimilated into operational numerical weather prediction models. Observation locations are chosen in order to improve forecasts of high-impact weather events of importance to society. Examples include dropwindson...
Article
Enhanced atmospheric motion vectors (AMVs) produced from the geostationary Multifunctional Transport Satellite (MTSAT) are assimilated into the U.S. Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS) to evaluate the impact of these observations on tropical cyclone track forecasts during the simultaneous western North Pacific Ocean Obser...
Article
The impact of parameter variations on the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System ensemble performance is examined, and subsets of ensemble members are used to identify the relative impact of the individual parameters. Two sets of parameter variations are considered. The first set has variations in the parametrization of cumulus conve...
Article
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In this study, singular vectors (SVs) are calculated for tropical cyclone (TC)-like vortices on an f plane and beta plane using a barotropic model, and the structure and time evolution of the SVs are investigated. In the f-plane study. SVs are calculated for TC-like vortices that do and do not satisfy a necessary condition of barotropic instability...
Article
The impact of parameter variations on the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System ensemble performance is examined, and subsets of ensemble members are used to identify the relative impact of the individual parameters. Two sets of parameter variations are considered. The first set has variations in the parametrization of cumulus conve...
Article
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The performance of the U.S. Navy global atmospheric ensemble prediction system is examined with a focus on tropical winds and tropical cyclone tracks. Ensembles are run at a triangular truncation of T119, T159, and T239, with 33, 17, and 9 ensemble members, respectively, to evaluate the impact of resolution versus the number of ensemble member trad...
Article
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In 1997, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Hurricane Center and the Hurricane Research Division began operational synoptic surveillance missions with the Gulfstream IV-SP jet aircraft to improve the numerical guidance for hurricanes that threaten the continental United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and H...
Article
Using sensitivity calculations, it's possible to better understand complex influences on typhoon evolution from organized convection to larger-scale weather systems. With Typhoon Lupit, for example, the rapid growth of small perturbations led to multiple errors that limited the accuracy of path and intensity forecasts.
Article
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Two versions of the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS) global ensemble, with and without a stochastic convection scheme, are compared regarding their performance in predicting the development and evolution of tropical cyclones. Forecasts of four typhoons, one tropical storm, and two selected nondeveloping tropical system...
Conference Paper
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An overview of recent developments in NRL's atmospheric global modeling and research section will be presented. Topics briefly presented will include an update on the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS) and NOGAPS development topics such as a) the impact of 4DVAR and increased vertical resolution, b) impact of increased h...
Article
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The long-term goal of the proposed work is to advance our understanding of the relationship between large-scale and mesoscale environmental conditions and small but powerful convective events during tropical cyclone (TC) development and intensity changes. Our ultimate goal is to identify the necessary conditions that determine the formation and evo...
Conference Paper
Atmospheric ensemble and ad joint systems can provide valuable insight into the practical limitations of our ability to predict the path of tropical cyclones and their strength. An ensemble forecast system can be used to address tropical cyclone forecast uncertainty. An ad joint model can be used for the efficient and rigorous computation of numeri...
Article
Following ideas from the local ensemble transform Kalman filter, a local formulation of the ensemble transform (ET) analysis perturbation scheme is developed by partitioning the numerical weather prediction model domain into latitude bands or latitude-longitude blocks. In comparison with analysis perturbations from the original "global" ET formulat...
Article
As part of The Observing System Research and Predictability Experiment (TIIORPEX) Pacific Asian Regional Campaign (T-PARC) and the Office of Naval Research's (ONR's) Tropical Cyclone Structure-08 (TCS-08) experiments, a variety of real-time products were produced at the Naval Research Laboratory during the field campaign that took place from August...
Article
In this study, the leading singular vectors (SVs), which are the fastest-growing perturbations (in a linear sense) to a given forecast, are used to examine and classify the dynamic relationship between tropical cyclones (TCs) and synoptic-scale environmental features that influence their evolution. Based on the 72 two-day forecasts of the 18 wester...
Article
The overarching goal is to improved our understanding of synoptic-scale influences on tropical cyclone (TC) formation and motion in the western North Pacific Ocean, in the context of error growth in forecast models. Benefits to the Navy would include improved forecast skill of the structure and track of developing and recurving TCs.
Article
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This study compares six different guidance products for targeted observations over the northwest Pacific Ocean for 84 cases of 2-day forecasts in 2006 and highlights the unique dynamical features affecting the tropical cyclone (TC) tracks in this basin. The six products include three types of guidance based on total-energy singular vectors (TESVs)...
Article
Four alternative approximate bases for the ensemble transform (ET) are obtained by extending the cycling interval to 24, 48, 72 and 96 h. Another alternative basis is obtained by foregoing cycling and instead drawing randomly generated perturbations from an archive. Experiments based upon 16-member global ensembles and a diagonal estimate of analys...
Article
In support of The Observing-system Research and Predictability Experiment (THORPEX) Pacific Asian Regional Campaign (T-PARC) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Tropical Cyclone Structure-08 (TCS-08) experiments, a variety of real-time products were produced at the Naval Research Laboratory during the field campaign that took place from August t...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
An overview of recent developments in NRL’s atmospheric global modeling and research section will be presented. Topics briefly presented will include an update on the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS) and NOGAPS development topics such as a) the impact of an advanced radiative transfer model and a comprehensive statisti...
Article
Singular vectors (SVs) are used to study the sensitivity of 2-day forecasts of recurving tropical cyclones (TCs) in the western North Pacific to changes in the initial state. The SVs are calculated using the tangent and adjoint models of the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS) for 72 forecasts for 18 TCs in the western No...
Article
A suite of high-resolution two-dimensional ensemble simulations are used to investigate the predictability of mountain waves, wave breaking, and downslope windstorms. For relatively low hills and mountains, perturbation growth is weak and ensemble spread is small. Gravity waves and wave breaking associated with higher mountains exhibit rapid pertur...
Article
The impact of stochastic convection on ensembles produced using the ensemble transform (ET) initial perturbation scheme is examined. This note compares the behavior of ensemble forecasts based only on initial ET perturbations with the behavior of ensemble forecasts based on the ET initial perturbations and forecasts that include stochastic convecti...
Conference Paper
New capabilities have been developed for the Navy's mesoscale and global weather ensemble forecast systems. Inclusion of model perturbations is found to have a significant impact on both global and mesoscale ensemble performance. New methods for perturbing the initial conditions provide superior ensemble performance. The ensemble systems provide a...
Article
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This paper investigates the nature of model error in complex deterministic nonlinear systems such as weather forecasting models. Forecasting systems incorporate two components, a forecast model and a data assimilation method. The latter projects a collection of observations of reality into a model state. Key features of model error can be understoo...
Article
The ensemble transform (ET) scheme changes forecast perturbations into analysis perturbations whose amplitudes and directions are consistent with a user-provided estimate of analysis error covariance. A practical demonstration of the ET scheme was undertaken using Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Atmospheric Variational Data Assimilation System (NAV...
Article
In this paper it is argued that ensemble prediction systems can be devised in such a way that physical parameterizations of subgrid-scale motions are utilized in a stochastic manner, rather than in a deterministic way as is typically done. This can be achieved within the context of current physical parameterization schemes in weather and climate pr...
Article
An adjoint modeling system developed for the COAMPS nonhydrostatic model is used to explore the sensitivity of lee-side winds to the upstream atmospheric conditions for flow over a two-dimensional obstacle. For relatively small hills in the hydrostatic wave regime, the sensitivity patterns exhibit a dual lobed structure that is a manifestation of a...
Conference Paper
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Objectives of our study include: i) examination of the predictability of regional-scale weather phenomenon that have a high impact on military missions, ii) exploration of new methods to initialize ensembles for global and mesoscale atmospheric models, and iii) diagnosis of mohourdel error and uncertainty, and inclusion in ensemble design. For the...