Representing convection in Numerical Weather Prediction models and its implications
Meteorological Masterclass
The second session in this year’s Meteorological Masterclass Series - ‘Anticipating floods, droughts and heatwaves’, with the University of Reading, takes place on Wednesday 10 March (3-4.30pm). The topic is ‘Representing convection in Numerical Weather Prediction models and its implications’, which will be presented by Prof. Bob Plant, Professor of Meteorology, University of Reading.
The forecasting of convective precipitation remains among the most challenging and most stubborn problems in meteorology. In this talk, Bob will review the fundamental scientific challenges, discuss recent progress and advances being made in this field, and highlight some of the implications for operational forecasting.
Climate models and global-scale numerical weather prediction treat convection through a parameterzation. This session will look at some of the key ideas and recent and ongoing improvements with this approach. The diurnal cycle, for example, has been much improved in many models.
As computational resources have increased, an important development over recent years has been the increased use of high-resolution simulations that do not require the use of a convective parameterization. These have become common for short-range forecasting and their outputs typically present us with a picture that is rich in detail. Although the high resolution brings benefits, we now need to ask how realistic the details are and how far should we rely upon them.
Prof. Bob Plant took his undergraduate degree in Physics at Oxford and did his PhD in particle physics at Manchester. He then worked for British Nuclear Fuels, making risk assessments of the long-term evolution of disposal sites for low-level radioactive waste.
Bob moved into meteorology during a postdoctoral position at Queen Mary College in London, when he researched into anomalous radar propagation. This led him to a second postdoctoral position on extratropical storms, in Reading in 2001.
Since then he has stayed put, developing various research interests in convective storms and boundary layer meteorology, especially in developing new approaches for modelling these phenomena and assessing the model results. He has made his way through the ranks to become a professor in atmospheric convection and joint head of the Meteorology department.
These masterclasses are intended to provide additional training for professionals working in Meteorology and Climate Science, and its operational application.
Each masterclass consists of a presentation followed by the opportunity for questions and discussion with the speaker.
Video recordings will be made available to people who have registered and paid to attend within a few days of the event. There will also be an option to ask the speakers questions via email for one week after the video goes live.
SUBSEQUENT EVENT DATES AND TOPICS
Wednesday 24 March 2021:
Heatwaves and climate change in urban microclimates
Prof Sue Grimmond: University of Reading
You can also follow discussion on the events using the hashtag #MetMasterclass
The classes gave a very useful overview of the latest developments in the fields of extra tropical storms and monthly / seasonal prediction, presented by experts.
Martin Young. Deputy Chief Forecaster, Met Office.
The Masterclass Series is well organised with a good balance of theory and practice, and with good visual presentations that are clear and concise.
Meteorologist, Pelmorex, Canada
I would highly recommend for anyone with an interest in the latest thinking and for those wanting continual professional development.
Adam Thornhill FRMetS CMet, Key Account Manager, Defence, Met Office
The mix of academic research into a topic with the professional frontline application of this work was fascinating.
Climate Scientist, Met Office
What a refreshment!
Min Zhu, Technical Specialist, RES
The session I attended was useful in my continuing professional development and was directly related to the knowledge we need at work.
Jim Galvin Forecaster, Jersey Met
Useful e-learning with a comprehensive analysis and good knowledge for continuous information upgrades
Mário Marques, iClimate Advisor, CTO, Porto
A must for keeping up to date.
Luis Cana, Senior Lecturer, Las Palmas, Gran Canaria
Image: Hail shower over Jodrell Bank - Mark Boardman