In this paper, a new method for canopy water content (FMC) estimation for highly vegetated surfacesshortwave infrared perpendicular water stress index (SPSI) is developed using NIR, SWIR wavelengths of Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) on the basis of spectral features and distribution of surface targets with different water conditions in NIR-SWIR spectral space.The developed method is further explored with radiative transfer simulations using PROSPECT, Lillesaeter, SailH and 6S. It is evident from the results of validation derived from satellite synchronous field measurements that SPSI is highly correlated with FMC, coefficient of determination (R squared) and root mean square error are 0.79 and 26.41%. The paper concludes that SPSI has a potential in vegetation water content estimation in terms of FMC.leaf water content, shortwave infrared perpendicular water stress index (SPSI), remote estimation of vegetation water content

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This study presents evaluation of real-time performance of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) operational Hurricane Weather Research and Forecast (HWRF) modeling system upgraded and implemented in 2013 in the western North Pacific basin (WPAC). Retrospective experiments with the 2013 version of the HWRF Model upgrades for 2012 WPAC tropical cyclones (TCs) show significant forecast improvement compared to the real-time forecasts from the 2012 version of HWRF. Despite a larger number of strong storms in the WPAC during 2013, real-time forecasts from the 2013 HWRF (H213) showed an overall reduction in intensity forecast errors, mostly at the 4–5-day lead times. Verification of the H213’s skill against the climate persistence forecasts shows that although part of such improvements in 2013 is related to the different seasonal characteristics between the years 2012 and 2013, the new model upgrades implemented in 2013 could provide some further improvement that the 2012 version of HWRF could not achieve. Further examination of rapid intensification (RI) events demonstrates noticeable skill of H213 with the probability of detection (POD) index of 0.22 in 2013 compared to 0.09 in 2012, suggesting that H213 starts to show skill in predicting RI events in the WPAC.

This note describes a modification of the boundary layer parameterization scheme in the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) Model, which improves the simulations of low-level wind and surface inflow angle in the eyewall area and has been implemented in the HWRF system and used in the operational system since 2016. The modification is on an observation-based adjustment of eddy diffusivity previously implemented in the model. It is needed because the previous adjustment resulted in a discontinuity in the vertical distribution of eddy diffusivity near the surface-layer top, which increases the friction within the surface layer and compromises the surface-layer constant-flux assumption. The discontinuity affects the simulation of storm intensity and intensification, one of the main metrics of model performance, particularly in strong tropical cyclones. This issue is addressed by introducing a height-dependent adjustment so that the vertical profile of eddy diffusivity is continuous throughout the boundary layer. It is shown that the implementation of the modification results in low-level winds and surface inflow angles in the storm’s eyewall region closer to observations.