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Abstract Review
(Late Submission)
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| Authors |
| Name | | Affiliation |
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Tiziana Cherubini |
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University of Hawaii |
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Steven Businger |
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University of Hawaii |
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Ryan Lyman |
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University of Hawaii |
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| Abstract |
| Session | | 3 (Approaches for modeling atmospheric optical turbulence.) |
| Title | | 'Modeling Optical Turbulence and Seeing over Mauna Kea: Algorithm Refinement
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| Abstract | | An optical turbulence algorithm has been running operationally since April 2005 at the Mauna Kea Weather Center. The algorithm makes use of the information on turbulence kinetic energy provided by a planetary boundary layer scheme available in the Penn State/NCAR mesoscale model (MM5). It provides an estimate of the turbulent fluctuations of the atmospheric refractive index, Cn2, and therefore seeing for the summit area. The potential and limitations of the implemented optical turbulence algorithm are investigated and illustrated in this paper. One year of observed seeing data from four observatories are compared to the model forecast seeing and a statistical analysis is performed. Given the fact that a poor seeing prediction might be a consequence of a poor model forecast rather than a deficiency in the seeing algorithm performance, a sensitivity test regarding the accuracy of the underlying numerical weather forecasts is carried out. A sensitivity analysis of the model’s eddy diffusivity scheme is also performed. It is anticipated that the optical turbulence algorithm is sensitive to the parameterization of the eddy diffusivity. Results from a simple calibration of the optical turbulence algorithm will be presented.
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