Comparison of HIRLAM wind data with measurements at Estonian coastal meteorological stations

The possibilities of using High Resolution Limited Area Model (HIRLAM) version 6.4.0 outputs to describe wind parameters in the coastal zone of Estonia were investigated. For this purpose output from 3-dimensional variational (3DVAR) analysis and 24 h forecast files were compared with measurements a...

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Main Authors: Keevallik, Sirje, Männik, Aarne, Hinnov, Juhan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Estonian Academy Publishers 2010-03-01
Series:Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eap.ee/public/Estonian_Journal_of_Earth_Sciences/2010/issue_1/earth-2010-1-90-99.pdf
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author Keevallik, Sirje
Männik, Aarne
Hinnov, Juhan
author_facet Keevallik, Sirje
Männik, Aarne
Hinnov, Juhan
author_sort Keevallik, Sirje
collection DOAJ
description The possibilities of using High Resolution Limited Area Model (HIRLAM) version 6.4.0 outputs to describe wind parameters in the coastal zone of Estonia were investigated. For this purpose output from 3-dimensional variational (3DVAR) analysis and 24 h forecast files were compared with measurements at nine coastal sites during January and April–December 2007. Special attention was paid to moderate and strong winds (wind speed > 5 m/s) that are responsible for sea level changes and high wave heights in the coastal area. It is shown that HIRLAM overestimates the wind speed. This overestimation is stronger in cases where HIRLAM uses an inadequate land–sea fraction in the respective cells. The model describes the angular distribution of moderate and strong winds better than that of weak winds. Except for one station, approximately 90% of HIRLAM estimates of the direction of moderate and strong winds differ less than ± 22.5° from the measured values; in approximately 60% of cases the direction differs less than ± 10°. The HIRLAM system approximates best the winds at the westernmost stations on the Estonian islands and in Pärnu, whereas a 24 h forecast gives somewhat better results than the winds diagnosed from 3DVAR analysis.
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spelling doaj.art-eb9259d542ef4399b265ff59812a9fe22022-12-22T03:52:34ZengEstonian Academy PublishersEstonian Journal of Earth Sciences1736-47282010-03-015919099Comparison of HIRLAM wind data with measurements at Estonian coastal meteorological stationsKeevallik, SirjeMännik, AarneHinnov, JuhanThe possibilities of using High Resolution Limited Area Model (HIRLAM) version 6.4.0 outputs to describe wind parameters in the coastal zone of Estonia were investigated. For this purpose output from 3-dimensional variational (3DVAR) analysis and 24 h forecast files were compared with measurements at nine coastal sites during January and April–December 2007. Special attention was paid to moderate and strong winds (wind speed > 5 m/s) that are responsible for sea level changes and high wave heights in the coastal area. It is shown that HIRLAM overestimates the wind speed. This overestimation is stronger in cases where HIRLAM uses an inadequate land–sea fraction in the respective cells. The model describes the angular distribution of moderate and strong winds better than that of weak winds. Except for one station, approximately 90% of HIRLAM estimates of the direction of moderate and strong winds differ less than ± 22.5° from the measured values; in approximately 60% of cases the direction differs less than ± 10°. The HIRLAM system approximates best the winds at the westernmost stations on the Estonian islands and in Pärnu, whereas a 24 h forecast gives somewhat better results than the winds diagnosed from 3DVAR analysis.http://eap.ee/public/Estonian_Journal_of_Earth_Sciences/2010/issue_1/earth-2010-1-90-99.pdfHIRLAM version 6.4.0wind speedwind directionEstonian coastal sea
spellingShingle Keevallik, Sirje
Männik, Aarne
Hinnov, Juhan
Comparison of HIRLAM wind data with measurements at Estonian coastal meteorological stations
Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences
HIRLAM version 6.4.0
wind speed
wind direction
Estonian coastal sea
title Comparison of HIRLAM wind data with measurements at Estonian coastal meteorological stations
title_full Comparison of HIRLAM wind data with measurements at Estonian coastal meteorological stations
title_fullStr Comparison of HIRLAM wind data with measurements at Estonian coastal meteorological stations
title_full_unstemmed Comparison of HIRLAM wind data with measurements at Estonian coastal meteorological stations
title_short Comparison of HIRLAM wind data with measurements at Estonian coastal meteorological stations
title_sort comparison of hirlam wind data with measurements at estonian coastal meteorological stations
topic HIRLAM version 6.4.0
wind speed
wind direction
Estonian coastal sea
url http://eap.ee/public/Estonian_Journal_of_Earth_Sciences/2010/issue_1/earth-2010-1-90-99.pdf
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AT mannikaarne comparisonofhirlamwinddatawithmeasurementsatestoniancoastalmeteorologicalstations
AT hinnovjuhan comparisonofhirlamwinddatawithmeasurementsatestoniancoastalmeteorologicalstations