The aim of this article is to describe the reference configuration of the convection-permitting numerical weather prediction (NWP) model HARMONIE-AROME, which is used for operational short-range weather forecasts in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden. It is developed, maintained, and validated as part of the shared ALADIN-HIRLAM system by a collaboration of 26 countries in Europe and northern Africa on short-range mesoscale NWP. HARMONIE-AROME is based on the model AROME developed within the ALADIN consortium. Along with the joint modeling framework, AROME was implemented and utilized in both northern and southern European conditions by the above listed countries, and this activity has led to extensive updates to the model's physical parameterizations. In this paper the authors present the differences in model dynamics and physical parameterizations compared with AROME, as well as important configuration choices of the reference, such as lateral boundary conditions, model levels, horizontal resolution, model time step, as well as topography, physiography, and aerosol databases used. Separate documentation will be provided for the atmospheric and surface data-assimilation algorithms and observation types used, as well as a separate description of the ensemble prediction system based on HARMONIE-AROME, which is called HarmonEPS.

Since October 2013 a convective-scale weather prediction model has been used operationally to provide short-term forecasts covering large parts of the Nordic region. The model is now operated by a bilateral cooperative effort [Meteorological Cooperation on Operational Numerical Weather Prediction (MetCoOp)] between the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute. The core of the model is based on the convection-permitting Applications of Research to Operations at Mesoscale (AROME) model developed by Météo-France. In this paper the specific modifications and updates that have been made to suit advanced high-resolution weather forecasts over the Nordic regions are described. This includes modifications in the surface drag description, microphysics, snow assimilation, as well as an update of the ecosystem and surface parameter description. Novel observation types are introduced in the operational runs, including ground-based Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observations and radar reflectivity data from the Norwegian and Swedish radar networks. After almost two years’ worth of experience with the AROME-MetCoOp model, the model’s sensitivities to the use of specific parameterization settings are characterized and the forecast skills demonstrating the benefit as compared with the global European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts’ Integrated Forecasting System (ECMWF-IFS) are evaluated. Furthermore, case studies are provided to demonstrate the ability of the model to capture extreme precipitation and wind events.

[1] The HIRHAM snow and sea ice albedo scheme and several other existing snow and sea ice albedo parameterizations forced with observed input parameters are compared with observed albedo. For snow on land in non-forested areas, the original linear temperature-dependent snow albedo is suggested to be replaced with a polynomial temperature-dependent scheme. For sea ice albedo none of the evaluated schemes manage to simulate the annual cycle successfully. A suggestion of a new sea ice albedo including the effects of melt ponds, snow on the sea ice and the surface temperature is presented. Simulations with original and new snow and sea ice albedo are performed in the regional atmospheric model HIRHAM and the results are compared. Compared with ERA40 the control simulation with original surface albedo reveals a warm bias during spring in the Arctic. Changing the surface albedo, the biggest differences are found in the same period. Model simulations with old and new surface albedo in HIRHAM clearly reveal that the new albedo scheme is superior to the currently implemented scheme in reproducing the ERA40 temperature climatology. In these experiments the new snow albedo scheme has less impact than the new sea ice albedo. This is probably because areas with changed snow albedo have smaller extent than areas with sea ice in the model setup and are more constraint by the lateral boundaries.

In this study a 1-yr dataset of a convective-scale atmospheric prediction system of the European Arctic (AROME-Arctic) is compared with the ECMWF’s medium-range forecasting, ensemble forecasting, and reanalysis systems, by using surface and radiosonde observations of wind and temperature. The focus is on the characteristics of the model systems in the very short-term forecast range (6–15 h), but without a specific focus on lead-time dependencies. In general, AROME-Arctic adds value to the representation of the surface characteristics. The atmospheric boundary layer thickness, during stable conditions, is overestimated in the global models, presumably because of a too diffusive turbulence scheme. Instead, AROME-Arctic shows a realistic mean thickness compared to the radiosonde observations. All models behave similarly for the upper-air verification and surprisingly, as well, in forecasting the location of a polar low in the short-range forecasts. However, when comparing with the largest wind speeds from ocean surface winds and at coastal synoptic weather stations during landfall of a polar low, AROME-Arctic shows the most realistic values. In addition to the model intercomparison, the limitation of the representation of sea ice and ocean surface characteristics on kilometer scales are discussed in detail. This major challenge is illustrated by showing the rapid drift and development of sea ice leads during a cold-air outbreak. As well, the available sea surface temperature products and a high-resolution ocean model result are compared qualitatively. New developments of satellite products, ocean–sea ice prediction models, or parameterizations, tailored toward high-resolution atmospheric Arctic prediction, are necessary to overcome this limitation.

Eight atmospheric regional climate models (RCMs) were run for the period September 1997 to October 1998 over the western Arctic Ocean. This period was coincident with the observational campaign of the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) project. The RCMs shared common domains, centred on the SHEBA observation camp, along with a common model horizontal resolution, but differed in their vertical structure and physical parameterizations. All RCMs used the same lateral and surface boundary conditions. Surface downwelling solar and terrestrial radiation, surface albedo, vertically integrated water vapour, liquid water path and cloud cover from each model are evaluated against the SHEBA observation data. Downwelling surface radiation, vertically integrated water vapour and liquid water path are reasonably well simulated at monthly and daily timescales in the model ensemble mean, but with considerable differences among individual models. Simulated surface albedos are relatively accurate in the winter season, but become increasingly inaccurate and variable in the melt season, thereby compromising the net surface radiation budget. Simulated cloud cover is more or less uncorrelated with observed values at the daily timescale. Even for monthly averages, many models do not reproduce the annual cycle correctly. The inter-model spread of simulated cloud-cover is very large, with no model appearing systematically superior. Analysis of the co-variability of terms controlling the surface radiation budget reveal some of the key processes requiring improved treatment in Arctic RCMs. Improvements in the parameterization of cloud amounts and surface albedo are most urgently needed to improve the overall performance of RCMs in the Arctic.