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At least 1,081 records · Page 60

Distributed Generation Market Demand (dGen) model

The Distributed Generation Market Demand (dGen) model simulates customer adoption of distributed energy resources (DERs) for residential, commercial, and industrial entities in the United States or other countries through 2050. The dGen model can be used for identifying the sectors, locations, and customers for whom adopting DERs would have a high economic value, for generating forecasts as an input to estimate distribution hosting capacity analysis, integrated resource planning, and load forecasting, and for understanding the economic or policy conditions in which DER adoption becomes viable, and for illustrating sensitivity to market and policy changes such as retail electricity rate structures, net energy metering, and technology costs.

Array↗

Elevohi: a novel CME prediction tool for heliospheric imaging combining an elliptical front with drag-based model fitting

In this study, we present a new method for forecasting arrival times and speeds of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) at any location in the inner heliosphere. This new approach enables the adoption of a highly flexible geometrical shape for the CME front with an adjustable CME angular width and an adjustable radius of curvature of its leading edge, i.e., the assumed geometry is elliptical. Using, as input, Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) heliospheric imager (HI) observations, a new elliptic conversion (ElCon) method is introduced and combined with the use of drag-based model (DBM) fitting to quantify the deceleration or acceleration experienced by CMEs during propagation. The result is then used as input for the Ellipse Evolution Model (ElEvo). Together, ElCon, DBM fitting, and ElEvo form the novel ElEvoHI forecasting utility. To demonstrate the applicability of ElEvoHI, we forecast the arrival times and speeds of 21 CMEs remotely observed from STEREO/HI and compare them to in situ arrival times and speeds at 1 AU. Compared to the commonly used STEREO/HI fitting techniques (Fixed-ϕ, Harmonic Mean, and Self-similar Expansion fitting), ElEvoHI improves the arrival time forecast by about 2 to ±6.5 hr and the arrival speed forecast by ≈250 to ±53 km s{sup −1}, depending on the ellipse aspect ratio assumed. In particular, the remarkable improvement of the arrival speed prediction is potentially beneficial for predicting geomagnetic storm strength at Earth.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Observing system simulation experiments for the laser atmospheric wind sounder using global spectral model

Fundamental to improving the understanding of the total Earth system are increased and improved observations. In the coming decade several spaceborne instrumented platforms will be constructed and implemented. These platforms will, in large, be housing the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) instrument suite. One of the proposed instruments is a wind profiling system which is currently referred to as the Laser Atmospheric Wind Sounder (LAWS). This instrument will use a CO2 Doppler lidar wind profiler to give wind measurements with a vertical and horizontal resolution which has yet to be seen globally. The LAWS instrument is now a candidate for launch on a NASA EOS-B platform and is fundamental to increasing our understanding of Earth system science. The LAWS data sets will form an integral component of the temporally continuous data base needed for research of the coupled climate systems. This instrument's observations will aid in giving an improved description of the atmospheric circulation, including the transports of energy, momentum, moisture, trace gases, and aerosols. Also, the wind data will be assimilated and used as the initial state for many global forecast models at various operational centers. Results of system simulation experiments are discussed, and future experiments are described.

Rohaly, Gregg↗

An atlas of monthly mean distributions of SSMI surface wind speed, AVHRR/2 sea surface temperature, AMI surface wind velocity, TOPEX/POSEIDON sea surface height, and ECMWF surface wind velocity during 1993

The following monthly mean global distributions for 1993 are presented with a common color scale and geographical map: 10-m height wind speed estimated from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSMI) on a United States (U.S.) Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft; sea surface temperature estimated from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR/2) on a U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite; 10-m height wind speed and direction estimated from the Active Microwave Instrument (AMI) on the European Space Agency (ESA) European Remote Sensing (ERS-1) satellite; sea surface height estimated from the joint U.S.-France Topography Experiment (TOPEX)/POSEIDON spacecraft; and 10-m height wind speed and direction produced by the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF). Charts of annual mean, monthly mean, and sampling distributions are displayed.

Halpern, D.↗

A Multiyear Dataset of SSM/I-Derived Global Ocean Surface Turbulent Fluxes

The surface turbulent fluxes of momentum, latent heat, and sensible heat over global oceans are essential to weather, climate and ocean problems. Evaporation is a key component of the hydrological cycle and the surface heat budget, while the wind stress is the major forcing for driving the oceanic circulation. The global air-sea fluxes of momentum, latent and sensible heat, radiation, and freshwater (precipitation-evaporation) are the forcing for driving oceanic circulation and, hence, are essential for understanding the general circulation of global oceans. The global air-sea fluxes are required for driving ocean models and validating coupled ocean-atmosphere global models. We have produced a 7.5-year (July 1987-December 1994) dataset of daily surface turbulent fluxes over the global oceans from the Special Sensor microwave/Imager (SSM/I) data. Daily turbulent fluxes were derived from daily data of SSM/I surface winds and specific humidity, National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) sea surface temperatures, and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) air-sea temperature differences, using a stability-dependent bulk scheme. The retrieved instantaneous surface air humidity (with a 25-km resolution) validated well with that of the collocated radiosonde observations over the global oceans. Furthermore, the retrieved daily wind stresses and latent heat fluxes were found to agree well with that of the in situ measurements (IMET buoy, RV Moana Wave, and RV Wecoma) in the western Pacific warm pool during the TOGA COARE intensive observing period (November 1992-February 1993). The global distributions of 1988-94 seasonal-mean turbulent fluxes will be presented. In addition, the global distributions of 1990-93 annual-means turbulent fluxes and input variables will be compared with those of UWM/COADS covering the same period. The latter is based on the COADS (comprehensive ocean-atmosphere data set) and is recognized to be one of the best climatological analyses of fluxes derived from ship observations.

Chou, Shu-Hsien↗

Assimilation of Lidar Planetary Boundary Layer Height Observations

Lidar backscatter and wind retrievals of the planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) are assimilated into 22 hourly forecasts from the NASA Unified - Weather and Research Forecast (NU-WRF) model during the Plains Elevated Convection Convection at Night (PECAN) campaign on July 11, 2015 in Greensburg, Kansas, using error statistics collected from the model profiles to compute the necessary covariance matrices. Two separate forecast runs using different PBL physics schemes were employed, and comparisons with 6 independent radiosonde profiles were made for each run. Both of the forecast runs accurately predicted the PBLH and the state variable profiles within the planetary boundary layer during the early morning, and the assimilation had a small impact during this time. In the late afternoon, the forecast runs showed decreased accuracy as the convective boundary layer developed. However, assimilation of the Doppler lidar PBLH observations were found to improve the temperature and V velocity profiles relative to independent radiosonde profiles. Water vapor was overcorrected, leading to increased differences with independent data. Errors in the U velocity were made slightly larger. The computed forecast error covariances between the PBLH and state variables were found to rise in the late afternoon, leading to the larger improvements in the afternoon. This work represents the first effort to assimilate PBLH into forecast states using ensemble methods.

Andrew Tangborn↗

Rolling Optimization of Transmission Network Recovery and Load Restoration Considering Hybrid Wind-Storage System and Cold Load Pickup

A common solution to deal with the stochasticity introduced by fast-ramping wind power integration is to equip wind farms (WFs) with energy storage systems (ESSs) to formulate hybrid WF-ESSs. In addition to leveling off wind power fluctuations during normal operations, a hybrid WF-ESS can be a flexible power source to accumulate the power system restoration. In this paper, we propose a rolling optimization model for transmission network recovery and load restoration considering the contributions of WF-ESSs. The proposed model is formulated as a mixed integer linear programming problem that simultaneously optimizes the amount and location of restorable load blocks as well as the restoration lines. The cold load pickup features of interrupted loads considering the outage duration are modeled in detail. A chance-constrained method is employed to deal with the uncertainty of wind power, and a rolling horizon-based framework is adopted to reduce the influence of forecast error. Case studies are conducted on both New England 39-bus system and part of a provincial power system in China. The results show that the load restoration process can be significantly accelerated by employing the proposed method and contributions of hybrid WF-ESSs to power system restoration are validated.

chance-constrained optimization↗

Comparative verification between GEM model and official aviation terminal forecasts

The Generalized Exponential Markov (GEM) model uses the local standard airways observation (SAO) to predict hour-by-hour the following elements: temperature, pressure, dew point depression, first and second cloud-layer height and amount, ceiling, total cloud amount, visibility, wind, and present weather conditions. GEM is superior to persistence at all projections for all elements in a large independent sample. A minute-by-minute GEM forecasting system utilizing the Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS) is under development.

Miller, Robert G.↗

A 7.5-Year Dataset of SSM/I-Derived Surface Turbulent Fluxes Over Global Oceans

The surface turbulent fluxes of momentum, latent heat, and sensible heat over global oceans are essential to weather, climate and ocean problems. Wind stress is the major forcing for driving the oceanic circulation, while Evaporation is a key component of hydrological cycle and surface heat budget. We have produced a 7.5-year (July 1987-December 1994) dataset of daily, individual monthly-mean and climatological (1988-94) monthly-mean surface turbulent fluxes over the global oceans from measurements of the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) on board the US Defense Meteorological Satellite Program F8, F10, and F11 satellites. It has a spatial resolution of 2.0x2.5 latitude-longitude. Daily turbulent fluxes are derived from daily data of SSM/I surface winds and specific humidity, National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) sea surface temperatures, and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) air-sea temperature differences, using a stability-dependent bulk scheme. The retrieved instantaneous surface air humidity (with a 25-km resolution) IS found to be generally accurate as compared to the collocated radiosonde observations over global oceans. The surface wind speed and specific humidity (latent heat flux) derived from the F10 SSM/I are found to be -encrally smaller (larger) than those retrieved from the F11 SSM/I. The F11 SSM/I appears to have slightly better retrieval accuracy for surface wind speed and humidity as compared to the F10 SSM/I. This difference may be due to the orbital drift of the F10 satellite. The daily wind stresses and latent heat fluxes retrieved from F10 and F11 SSM/Is show useful accuracy as verified against the research quality in si -neasurerrients (IMET buoy, RV Moana Wave, and RV Wecoma) in the western Pacific warm pool during the TOGA COARE Intensive observing period (November 1992-February 1993). The 1988-94 seasonal-mean turbulent fluxes and input variables derived from FS and F11 SSM/Is show reasonable patterns related to seasonal variations of atmospheric general circulation. This dataset of SSM/I-derived turbulent fluxes is useful for climate studies, forcing of ocean models, and validation of coupled ocean-atmosphere global models and can be accessed through the NASA/GSFC Distributed Active Archive Center.

Chou, Shu-Hsien↗

Foreshock Ion Motion Across Discontinuities: Formation of Foreshock Transients

In the ion foreshock, hot flow anomalies (HFAs) and foreshock bubbles (FBs) are two types of foreshock transients that have the strongest fluctuations, which can disturb the magnetosphere-ionosphere system and increase shock acceleration efficiency. They form due to interaction between the foreshock ions and solar wind discontinuities: the direction of the foreshock ion-driven current and whether it decreases or increases the magnetic field strength behind the discontinuity determine whether the transient's formation can be promoted or suppressed. Thus, to predict the HFA and FB formation and forecast their space weather effects, it is necessary to predict the foreshock ion-driven current direction. In this study, we derive analytical equations of foreshock ion velocities within discontinuities to estimate foreshock ion-driven current direction, which provides a quantitative criterion of HFA and FB formation. To validate the criterion, we use Acceleration Reconnection Turbulence & Electrodynamics of Moon's Interaction with the Sun to observe pristine solar wind discontinuities and calculate discontinuity parameters. We use Magnetospheric Multiscale to observe the foreshock ion motion around the discontinuities and show that the data support our model. This study is another step toward a predictive model of HFA and FB formation so that we can forecast their space weather effects at Earth using solar wind observations at lunar orbit or L1.

Terry Z. Liu↗

JPL Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) Portal

Satellite observations can play a very important role in airborne field campaigns, since they provide a comprehensive description of the environment that is essential for the experiment design, flight planning, and post-experiment scientific data analysis. In the past, it has been difficult to fully utilize data from multiple NASA satellites due to the large data volume, the complexity of accessing NASA s data in near-real-time (NRT), as well as the lack of software tools to interact with multi-sensor information. The JPL GRIP Portal is a Web portal that serves a comprehensive set of NRT observation data sets from NASA and NOAA satellites describing the atmospheric and oceanic environments related to the genesis and intensification of the tropical storms in the North Atlantic Ocean. Together with the model forecast data from four major global atmospheric models, this portal provides a useful tool for the scientists and forecasters in planning and monitoring the NASA GRIP field campaign during the 2010 Atlantic Ocean hurricane season. This portal uses the Google Earth plug-in to visualize various types of data sets, such as 2D maps, wind vectors, streamlines, 3D data sets presented at series of vertical cross-sections or pointwise vertical profiles, and hurricane best tracks and forecast tracks. Additionally, it allows users to overlap multiple data sets, change the opacity of each image layer, generate animations on the fly with selected data sets, and compare the observation data with the model forecast using two independent calendars. The portal also provides the capability to identify the geographic location of any point of interest. In addition to supporting the airborne mission planning, the NRT data and portal will serve as a very rich source of information during the post-field campaign analysis stage of the airborne experiment. By including a diverse set of satellite observations and model forecasts, it provides a good spatial and temporal context for the high-resolution, but limited in space and time, airborne observations.

Knosp, Brian W.↗

Tilted lidar profiling: Development and testing of a novel scanning strategy for inhomogeneous flows

The most common profiling techniques for the atmospheric boundary layer based on a monostatic Doppler wind lidar rely on the assumption of horizontal homogeneity of the flow. This assumption breaks down in the presence of either natural or human-made obstructions that can generate significant flow distortions. The need to deploy ground-based lidars near operating wind turbines for the American WAKE experimeNt (AWAKEN) spurred a search for novel profiling techniques that could avoid the influence of the flow modifications caused by the wind farms. With this goal in mind, two well-established profiling scanning strategies have been retrofitted to scan in a tilted fashion and steer the beams away from the more severely inhomogeneous region of the flow. Results from a field test at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's 135-m meteorological tower show that the accuracy of the horizontal mean flow reconstruction is insensitive to the tilt of the scan, although higher-order wind statistics are severely deteriorated at extreme tilts mainly due to geometrical error amplification. A numerical study of the AWAKEN domain based on the Weather Research and Forecasting Model and large-eddy simulation are also conducted to test the effectiveness of tilted profiling. It is shown that a threefold reduction of the error on inflow mean wind speed can be achieved for a lidar placed at the base of the turbine using tilted profiling.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

A Real-Time Online Data Product that Automatically Detects Easterly Gap-Flow Events and Precipitation Type in the Columbia River Gorge

A real-time, hourly updated, online graphical data product that displays the depth and strength of easterly gap flow in the Columbia River Gorge using a 915-MHz Doppler wind profiler is presented. During precipitation events, this data product also displays observed precipitation accumulation and diagnosed precipitation type using measurements provided by a collocated heated tipping-bucket rain gauge, an optical disdrometer, and temperature and relative humidity sensors. Automated algorithms that determine the existence and depth of the gap flow, as well as precipitation type, are described. The Columbia River Gorge is the only major gap in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington. Consequently, both easterly and westerly directed gap-flow events are common in this region. Especially during late autumn and winter, easterly gap flow can cause hazardous and damaging weather (e.g., snow, freezing rain, and strong winds) in the Portland, Oregon–Vancouver, Washington metropolitan area. The product described here was developed to help forecasters at the Portland National Weather Service Forecast Office monitor cool-season easterly gap-flow events in order to provide situational awareness and guide warnings to the public about potential weather-related hazards.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Systematic Independent Validation of Inner Heliospheric Models

This presentation is the first in a series which will provide independent validation of community models of the outer corona and inner heliosphere. In this work we establish a set of measures to be used in validating this group of models. We use these procedures to generate a comprehensive set of results from the Wang- Sheeley-Arge (WSA) model which will be used as a baseline, or reference, against which to compare all other models. We also run a test of the validation procedures by applying them to a small set of results produced by the ENLIL Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model. In future presentations we will validate other models currently hosted by the Community Coordinated Modeling Center(CCMC), including a comprehensive validation of the ENLIL model. The Wang-Sheeley-Arge (WSA) model is widely used to model the Solar wind, and is used by a number of agencies to predict Solar wind conditions at Earth as much as four days into the future. Because it is so important to both the research and space weather forecasting communities, it is essential that its performance be measured systematically, and independently. In this paper we offer just such an independent and systematic validation. We report skill scores for the model's predictions of wind speed and IMF polarity for a large set of Carrington rotations. The model was run in all its routinely used configurations. It ingests line of sight magnetograms. For this study we generated model results for monthly magnetograms from the National Solar Observatory (SOLIS), Mount Wilson Observatory and the GONG network, spanning the Carrington rotation range from 1650 to 2068. We compare the influence of the different magnetogram sources, performance at quiet and active times, and estimate the effect of different empirical wind speed tunings. We also consider the ability of the WSA model to identify sharp transitions in wind speed from slow to fast wind. These results will serve as a baseline against which to compare future versions of the model

MacNeice, P. J.↗

On Kinetic Slow Modes, Fluid Slow Modes, and Pressure-balanced Structures in the Solar Wind

Observations in the solar wind suggest that the compressive component of inertial-range solar-wind turbulence is dominated by slow modes. The low collisionality of the solar wind allows for nonthermal features to survive, which suggests the requirement of a kinetic plasma description. The least-damped kinetic slow mode is associated with the ion-acoustic (IA) wave and a nonpropagating (NP) mode. We derive analytical expressions for the IA-wave dispersion relation in an anisotropic plasma in the framework of gyrokinetics and then compare them to fully kinetic numerical calculations, results from two-fluid theory, and magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). This comparison shows major discrepancies in the predicted wave phase speeds from MHD and kinetic theory at moderate to high β . MHD and kinetic theory also dictate that all plasma normal modes exhibit a unique signature in terms of their polarization. We quantify the relative amplitude of fluctuations in the three lowest particle velocity moments associated with IA and NP modes in the gyrokinetic limit and compare these predictions with MHD results and in situ observations of the solar-wind turbulence. The agreement between the observations of the wave polarization and our MHD predictions is better than the kinetic predictions, which suggests that the plasma behaves more like a fluid in the solar wind than expected.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A Clustering-Based Scenario Generation Framework for Power Market Simulation with Wind Integration

A critical step in stochastic optimization models of power system analysis is to select a set of appropriate scenarios and significant numbers of scenario generation methods exist in the literature. This paper develops a clustering based scenario generation method, which aims to improve the performance of existing scenario generation techniques by grouping a set of correlated wind sites into clusters according to their cross-correlations. Copula based models are utilized to model spatiotemporal correlations and the Gibbs sampling is then used to generate scenarios for day-ahead markets. Our results show that the generated scenarios based on clustered wind sites outperform existing approaches in terms of reliability and sharpness and can reduce the total computational time for scenario generation and reduction significantly. The clustering-based framework can therefore provide a better support for real-world market simulations with high wind penetration.

data visualization↗

Observed and modeled patterns of covariability between low-level cloudiness and the structure of the trade-wind layer

We present patterns of covariability between low-level cloudiness and the trade-wind boundary layer structure using long-term measurements at a site representative of dynamical regimes with moderate subsidence or weak ascent. We compare these with ECMWF’s Integrated Forecast System and 10 CMIP5 models. By using single-time step output at a single location, we find that models can produce a fairly realistic trade-wind layer structure in long-term means, but with unrealistic variability at shorter-time scales. The unrealistic variability in modeled cloudiness near the lifting condensation level (LCL) is due to stronger than observed relationships with mixed-layer relative humidity (RH) and temperature stratification at the mixed-layer top. Those relationships are weak in observations, or even of opposite sign, which can be explained by a negative feedback of convection on cloudiness. Cloudiness near cumulus tops at the tradewind inversion instead varies more pronouncedly in observations on monthly time scales, whereby larger cloudiness relates to larger surface winds and stronger trade-wind inversions. However, these parameters appear to be a prerequisite, rather than strong controlling factors on cloudiness, because they do not explain submonthly variations in cloudiness. Models underestimate the strength of these relationships and diverge in particular in their responses to large-scale vertical motion. No model stands out by reproducing the observed behavior in all respects. As a result, these findings suggest that climate models do not realistically represent the physical processes that underlie the coupling between trade-wind clouds and their environments in present-day climate, which is relevant for how we interpret modeled cloud feedbacks.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Simulating Impacts of Extreme Events on Grids with High Penetrations of Wind Power Resources: Preprint

As extreme weather events become more frequent and intense, the demand for connecting grid operation and infrastructure planning with extreme event models will increase as well. We present a methodology for creating damage contingencies and scenarios for electric transmission grids during a hurricane strike. Included is an example case study: Hurricane Dolly damaging a synthetic 2000 bus test system during its landing in Southern Texas. Using WIND Toolkit meteorological data in conjunction with fragility curves for various electric grid elements, we generate stochastic damage scenarios that can be used for short- and long-term planning problems including emergency asset management. We perform statistical analysis of damages and quantify topological effects on example synthetic grid. Also, we investigate loss-of-load events during two-day economic dispatch experiment. Finally, we point out various shortcomings of our method and suggest how it can be improved.

contingencies↗