Hurricane Modeling at the NOAA/NWS/NCEP Environmental Research Center
Advisors: Dr. Avichal Mehra, Dr. Sergio Abarca, Dr. Bin Liu
Years Active: June 2018 - August 2018
In the summer of 2018, I was selected to be a summer intern at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), specifically working on the HWRF model within the Environmental Modeling Center (EMC). The application to this internship program was competitive, and the final group of interns consisted of 17 undergraduate and graduate students from across the nation.
What is the Environmental Modeling Center?
The Environmental Modeling Center (EMC) improves numerical modeling of earth systems to fulfill the mission of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). This is done to assist scientists and forecasters in the National Weather Service and all around the country make accurate forecasts to help protect life and property.
What is the HWRF Model?
The Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) model is a high-resolution, triple nested model optimized to model and predict the behavior of hurricanes. Documentation on this model can be found at the DTC webpage.
How did I contribute?
On the HWRF team, I led a project analyzing hurricane convection in HWRF output in comparison to observational studies and other modeling systems. In doing so, we developed a methodology to evaluate HWRF convection using a partitioning algorithm and Contoured Frequency by Altitude Diagrams (CFADs), which will be used by EMC in future annual evaluations of HWRF.
Additionally, my team and I collaborated frequently with other scientists within EMC and at external institutions. I became very familiar with many of the challenges facing Research-to-Operations activities.
Related Presentations
Lawton, Q. A., S. Abarca, B. Liu, A. Mehra, A.C. Didlake Jr., and R. Rogers, 2019: Investigating Hurricane Convection in HWRF. Tropical Cyclones and Extreme Monsoon Precipitation Poster Session at the 2019 American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ.
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Lawton, Q. A., S. Abarca, B. Liu, A. Mehra, A.C. Didlake Jr., and R. Rogers, 2018: Investigating Hurricane Convection in HWRF. Texas A&M Department of Atmospheric Sciences Seminar, College Station, TX.
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Lawton, Q. A., S. Abarca, B. Liu, A. Mehra, A.C. Didlake Jr., and R. Rogers, 2018: Investigating Hurricane Convection in HWRF. Environmental Modeling Center HWRF Seminar, College Park, MD.
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Lawton, Q. A., S. Abarca, B. Liu, A. Mehra, A.C. Didlake Jr., and R. Rogers, 2018: Investigating Hurricane Convection in HWRF. NCEP Student Presentation Workshop, College Park, MD.