The meteorological characteristics of cloudy atmospheric columns can be very different from their clear counterparts. Thus, when a forecast ensemble is uncertain about the presence/absence of clouds at a specific atmospheric column (i.e., some members are clear while others are cloudy), that column's ensemble statistics will contain a mixture of clear and cloudy statistics. Such mixtures are inconsistent with the ensemble data assimilation algorithms currently used in numerical weather prediction. Hence, ensemble data assimilation algorithms that can handle such mixtures can potentially outperform currently used algorithms. In this study, we demonstrate the potential benefits of addressing such mixtures through a bi-Gaussian extension of the ensemble Kalman filter (BGEnKF). The BGEnKF is compared against the commonly used ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) using perfect model observing system simulated experiments (OSSEs) with a realistic weather model (the Weather Research and Forecast model). Synthetic all-sky infrared radiance observations are assimilated in this study. In these OSSEs, the BGEnKF outperforms the EnKF in terms of the horizontal wind components, temperature, specific humidity, and simulated upper tropospheric water vapor channel infrared brightness temperatures. This study is one of the first to demonstrate the potential of a Gaussian mixture model EnKF with a realistic weather model. Our results thus motivate future research toward improving numerical Earth system predictions though explicitly handling mixture statistics.
Plain Language SummaryThe accuracy of a computer weather forecast often depends on the accuracy of the information inputted into the computer forecast system. The accuracy of the input in turn depends on the accuracy of the input-constructing algorithm. Such algorithms often use probabilistic forecasts from an earlier point in time and current atmospheric measurements to construct the inputs. A common assumption in such algorithms is that the probabilistic forecasts follow a multivariate normal distribution (henceforth called the normality assumption). However, in the frequent situation where the probabilistic forecast is uncertain about the presence/absence of clouds, the normality assumption is violated. This is because clear atmospheric columns and cloudy atmospheric columns have distinctly different thermodynamic and dynamic characteristics. These two types of columns thus have different statistics. As such, when a probabilistic forecast is uncertain about the presence/absence of clouds, it has mixed statistics (henceforth termed mixed probabilistic forecast). Addressing such mixtures can potentially improve forecasts. In this study, we propose a new input-constructing algorithm that can explicitly handle mixed probabilistic forecasts. This new algorithm is nearly as fast as currently available algorithms. More importantly, our experiments demonstrate that our new algorithm can produce more accurate forecast inputs than an existing popular algorithm. Our work thus suggests that...