Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model

Tornadic squall line 4/14/07

30,000

Registered Users

An atmospheric simulation model developed initially to

improve mesoscale numerical weather prediction.
Development led by MMM with large community
participation.
20,000

Over 30,000 registered users (158 countries) since initial

release in 2001
25 h WRF forecast
Used for operational/realtime NWP at
worldwide.

10,000

over 40 institutions

Wide range of WRF community

research applications
from global circulation on Mars to turbulent boundarylayer LES.
WRF community
user WRF model support, annual
workshops,
and bi-annual tutorials conducted by MMM.

0
2002

2006

2010

2014

Composite radar reflectivity

Mesoscale & Microscale Meteorological Division / NCAR

2015 WRF/MPAS Community-Support Milestones

Jan 2015 - WRF Model Tutorial, Boulder, CO (~55 part.)
April 2015 - WRF Version 3.7 Community Release
May 2015 - MPAS Version 4 Community Release
June 2015 - 16th WRF Users Workshop, Boulder, CO (~220 part.)
July 2015 - WRF Model / WRFDA / WRF-Chem Tutorials,
Boulder, CO (~60 part.)

Sept 2015 - WRF/MPAS Model Workshop / Tutorial, Chester, England

Dec 2015 - WRF Model Workshop / Tutorial, Hong Kong

Currently averaging 400 email inquiries per month to wrfhelp

Mesoscale & Microscale Meteorological Division / NCAR

MMM Priority WRF-related Research Applications

Radar reflectivity for tornadic squall line

Convection-resolving hazardous weather

forecasting

- Real-time forecasting over the central U.S.

WRF/ARW
forecast
- Testing
the impact3ofkm
differing
model physics
and initial analyses on forecast accuracy.

Hurricane Katrina

High-resolution hurricane forecasting

- Conducting resolution tests to determine if
higher resolution systematically improves
intensity forecasts
- Implementing new models into a quasioperational framework

North Atlantic and North American Regional Climate Changes

Nested Regional Climate Modeling

- Conducting multi-year simulations with

convection-resolving grids
- Improving understanding of the 2-way
interactions that are critical to climate and
weather predictions

Mesoscale & Microscale Meteorological Division / NCAR

Other WRF Components

u (m/s) Analysis - Background

WRF-Var - A unified data-assimilation system

Contains 3D-Var, 4D-Var, EnKF, and hybrid variational/

ensemble techniques that share components within a

single package

Supports both global and regional assimilation

Includes satellite radiance assimilation

8-22-08 12 UTC, level 15

WRF-Chem - Online coupling of dynamics and

chemistry within the WRF framework

36 h WRF-Chem 27 km Ozone forecasts

Includes gas-phase chemistry, aerosols, and the

interaction of chemistry with radiation and microphysics

Both regional and global applications

Includes chemical data assimilation
Led by George Grell (NOAA/ESRL)

Mesoscale & Microscale Meteorological Division / NCAR

Other WRF Components

Ignition and growth of a simulated fireline

WRF-Fire - Understand interactions between

weather and wildland fires that influence fire
behavior and growth

- Couples a wildland fire model with WRF to

simulate complex interactions between fires and

local winds.

Global WRF - Allows global capability for data

assimilation, chemical transport, and regional

climate studies

- Adapted from planetWRF development

10 day precipitable water forecast, initialized 7-11-2007 12Z

810 x 405 x 41 (x,y,z), ~50 km grid at the equator, 200 second timestep

led by Mark Richardson (Cal Tech) for

planetary atmospheres
- Limitations of the lat-lon global grid:
Requires polar filters, anisotropic grid
cells at high latitudes, poor scaling on
massively parallel computers

Mesoscale & Microscale Meteorological Division / NCAR

Anticipated MPAS and WRF Applications

WRF

MPAS
Regional NWP

Urban
meteorology

Global NWP

Tropical cyclone/
hurricane prediction

LES modeling

Integrated global
/regional NWP

Convection permitting
hazardous weather forecasting

Wind energy
assessment
Nested regional
climate modeling

Regional atmospheric chemistry

research

Global atmospheric
chemistry research

Ensemble (EnKf), variational and

Hybrid DA

Obs/grid nudging
applications
Fire model
coupling

Idealized simulations
across scales
Regional air-quality
forecasting

Global/regional
climate modeling

Seasonal
prediction

Meteorological Division / NCAR

MPAS is not Mesoscale
intended& Microscale
to replace
WRF!

Advice for WRF Tutorial Participants

Participate actively in the WRF tutorial
lectures and practical sessions.

As you gain experience in using WRF,

contribute to the community effort by
helping other new WRF users at your
home institution.

If you develop enhancements for the WRF

model please contribute them back to the
community code for the benefit of others.

Mesoscale & Microscale Meteorological Division / NCAR

Come visit us at NCAR in Boulder !

Mesoscale & Microscale Meteorological Division / NCAR

WRF Based Application Modeling Systems

WRF-Chem WRF coupled with chemistry (NOAA/GSD, DOE/PNNL)
WRF-Hydro WRF coupled with hydrology model (NCAR/RAL)
Polar WRF WRF adapted for polar regions (PMG/OSU)
WRF-Fire - WRF coupled with surface fire behavior model (NCAR, USFS, CU)
SRTC EMS Local forecasting with WRF in NWS Weather Forecast Offices (COMET)
PlanetWRF Global WRF model for planetary atmospheres research (JPL/Cal Tech)
CWRF Regional climate extension of WRF (UMD/EaSM)
CLWRF Regional climate extension of WRF (U. Cantabria, Spain)
NU-WRF Observation-driven regional ESM and assimilation system (NASA/God)
COAWST Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Wave Sediment Transport modeling
system (USGS)

Mesoscale & Microscale Meteorological Division / NCAR