by Robert Banks

The full research article, “Performance evaluation of boundary-layer heights from lidar and the Weather Research and Forecasting model at an urban coastal site in the north-east Iberian Peninsula” has been published in Boundary-Layer Meteorology by R. F. Banks et al. from the Polytechnic Univ. of Catalonia and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center.

In the study the authors achieve three primary objectives: first, a cluster analysis algorithm is used to determine seven distinct synoptic flow types over the north-east Iberian Peninsula. Secondly, classic methods to obtain the planetary boundary-layer (PBL) height from lidar were compared and validated at 1200 UTC over a 7-year period against a novel technique using an extended Kalman filter. With the final objective, PBL heights simulated in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model were validated against the lidar-extended Kalman filter estimates, using eight unique WRF PBL schemes.

It is found an approach using the lidar-extended Kalman filter proves promising for continuous and automatic observation of PBL height from lidar measurements. Test simulations with the WRF model reveal a clear favour to non-local PBL schemes, with the ACM2 scheme showing the closest correlation to lidar-extended Kalman filter estimates.

Full citation:

Banks, R. F., J. Tiana-Alsina, F. Rocadenbosch, and J. M. Baldasano, 2015: Performance evaluation of boundary-layer heights from lidar and the Weather Research and Forecasting model at an urban coastal site in the north-east Iberian Peninsula. Bound.-Layer Meteor., doi:10.1007/s10546-015-0056-2.