NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
The Impact of Soil Moisture Initialization On Seasonal Precipitation ForecastsSome studies suggest that the proper initialization of soil moisture in a forecasting model may contribute significantly to the accurate prediction of seasonal precipitation, especially over mid-latitude continents. In order for the initialization to have any impact at all, however, two conditions must be satisfied: (1) the initial soil moisture anomaly must be "remembered" into the forecasted season, and (2) the atmosphere must respond in a predictable way to the soil moisture anomaly. In our previous studies, we identified the key land surface and atmospheric properties needed to satisfy each condition. Here, we tie these studies together with an analysis of an ensemble of seasonal forecasts. Initial soil moisture conditions for the forecasts are established by forcing the land surface model with realistic precipitation prior to the start of the forecast period. As expected, the impacts on forecasted precipitation (relative to an ensemble of runs that do not utilize soil moisture information) tend to be localized over the small fraction of the earth with all of the required land and atmosphere properties.
Document ID
20020054243
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Koster, R. D.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Suarez, M. J.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Tyahla, L.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Houser, Paul
Date Acquired
August 20, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2002
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Meeting Information
Meeting: American Meterological Society Meeting
Location: Orlando, FL
Country: United States
Start Date: January 13, 2002
End Date: January 17, 2002
Sponsors: American Meteorological Society
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available