Eugenia Kalnay

Bio: Eugenia Kalnay is an academic researcher from University of Maryland, College Park. The author has contributed to research in topics: Data assimilation & Ensemble Kalman filter. The author has an hindex of 61, co-authored 259 publications receiving 52574 citations. Previous affiliations of Eugenia Kalnay include Goddard Space Flight Center & Eötvös Loránd University.

The Effect of a Gravity Wave Drag Parameterization Scheme on GLA Fourth Order GCM Forecasts

Abstract: Ten-day forecast experiments have been performed to determined whether the introduction of a simple orographic gravity wave drag scheme into a fourth-order GCM would reduce the climate drift of the fine resolution model and improve the model's medium range predictive skill. Error reduction due to the gravity waves is found in stratospheric predictions, where the improvement is confined mainly to the zonal mean component. Improvements are noted in the Northern Hemisphere climatology, where low level westerlies are weakened and shifted poleward, and in the Southern Hemisphere, where the roaring forties and fifties are better simulated.

Proactive Quality Control: Observing System Experiments Using the NCEP Global Forecast System

Abstract: Proactive quality control (PQC) is a fully flow dependent QC based on ensemble forecast sensitivity to observations (EFSO). Past studies showed in several independent cases that GFS forecasts can be improved by rejecting observations identified as detrimental by EFSO. However, the impact of cycling PQC in sequential data assimilation has, so far, only been examined using the simple Lorenz ’96 model. Using a low-resolution spectral GFS model that assimilates PrepBUFR (no radiance) observations with the local ensemble transform Kalman filter (LETKF), this study aims to become a bridge between a simple model and the implementation into complex operational systems. We demonstrate the major benefit of cycling PQC in a sequential data assimilation framework through the accumulation of improvements from previous PQC updates. Such accumulated PQC improvement is much larger than the “current” PQC improvement that would be obtained at each analysis cycle using “future” observations. As a result, it is unnecessary to use future information, and hence this allows the operational implementation of cycling PQC. The results show that the analyses and forecasts are improved the most by rejecting all the observations identified as detrimental by EFSO, but that major improvements also come from rejecting just the most detrimental 10% observations. The forecast improvements brought by PQC are observed throughout the 10 days of integration and provide more than a 12-h forecast lead-time gain. An important finding is that PQC not only reduces substantially the root-mean-squared forecast errors but also the forecast biases. We also show a case of “skill dropout,” where the control forecast misses a developing baroclinic instability, whereas the accumulated PQC corrections result in a good prediction.

The NCEP/NCAR 40-Year Reanalysis Project

Abstract: The NCEP and NCAR are cooperating in a project (denoted “reanalysis”) to produce a 40-year record of global analyses of atmospheric fields in support of the needs of the research and climate monitoring communities. This effort involves the recovery of land surface, ship, rawinsonde, pibal, aircraft, satellite, and other data; quality controlling and assimilating these data with a data assimilation system that is kept unchanged over the reanalysis period 1957–96. This eliminates perceived climate jumps associated with changes in the data assimilation system. The NCEP/NCAR 40-yr reanalysis uses a frozen state-of-the-art global data assimilation system and a database as complete as possible. The data assimilation and the model used are identical to the global system implemented operationally at the NCEP on 11 January 1995, except that the horizontal resolution is T62 (about 210 km). The database has been enhanced with many sources of observations not available in real time for operations, provided b...

The ERA-Interim reanalysis: configuration and performance of the data assimilation system

Abstract: ERA-Interim is the latest global atmospheric reanalysis produced by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The ERA-Interim project was conducted in part to prepare for a new atmospheric reanalysis to replace ERA-40, which will extend back to the early part of the twentieth century. This article describes the forecast model, data assimilation method, and input datasets used to produce ERA-Interim, and discusses the performance of the system. Special emphasis is placed on various difficulties encountered in the production of ERA-40, including the representation of the hydrological cycle, the quality of the stratospheric circulation, and the consistency in time of the reanalysed fields. We provide evidence for substantial improvements in each of these aspects. We also identify areas where further work is needed and describe opportunities and objectives for future reanalysis projects at ECMWF. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society

Global Consequences of Land Use

Abstract: Land use has generally been considered a local environmental issue, but it is becoming a force of global importance. Worldwide changes to forests, farmlands, waterways, and air are being driven by the need to provide food, fiber, water, and shelter to more than six billion people. Global croplands, pastures, plantations, and urban areas have expanded in recent decades, accompanied by large increases in energy, water, and fertilizer consumption, along with considerable losses of biodiversity. Such changes in land use have enabled humans to appropriate an increasing share of the planet’s resources, but they also potentially undermine the capacity of ecosystems to sustain food production, maintain freshwater and forest resources, regulate climate and air quality, and ameliorate infectious diseases. We face the challenge of managing trade-offs between immediate human needs and maintaining the capacity of the biosphere to provide goods and services in the long term.

Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Abstract: Drafting Authors: Neil Adger, Pramod Aggarwal, Shardul Agrawala, Joseph Alcamo, Abdelkader Allali, Oleg Anisimov, Nigel Arnell, Michel Boko, Osvaldo Canziani, Timothy Carter, Gino Casassa, Ulisses Confalonieri, Rex Victor Cruz, Edmundo de Alba Alcaraz, William Easterling, Christopher Field, Andreas Fischlin, Blair Fitzharris, Carlos Gay García, Clair Hanson, Hideo Harasawa, Kevin Hennessy, Saleemul Huq, Roger Jones, Lucka Kajfež Bogataj, David Karoly, Richard Klein, Zbigniew Kundzewicz, Murari Lal, Rodel Lasco, Geoff Love, Xianfu Lu, Graciela Magrín, Luis José Mata, Roger McLean, Bettina Menne, Guy Midgley, Nobuo Mimura, Monirul Qader Mirza, José Moreno, Linda Mortsch, Isabelle Niang-Diop, Robert Nicholls, Béla Nováky, Leonard Nurse, Anthony Nyong, Michael Oppenheimer, Jean Palutikof, Martin Parry, Anand Patwardhan, Patricia Romero Lankao, Cynthia Rosenzweig, Stephen Schneider, Serguei Semenov, Joel Smith, John Stone, Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, David Vaughan, Coleen Vogel, Thomas Wilbanks, Poh Poh Wong, Shaohong Wu, Gary Yohe