Impact of EOS MLS ozone data on medium‐extended range ensemble weather forecasts

Abstract

AbstractAs the stratosphere is largely characterized by its ozone abundance, the quality of the ozone field is important for a realistic representation of the stratosphere in weather and climate models. While the stratosphere is directly affected by radiative heating from ozone photodissociation, ozone abundance might also impact the representation of the troposphere since the stratosphere and troposphere are dynamically linked. In this paper, we examine the potential benefits of using ozone data from the Earth Observing System (EOS) Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) for medium‐extended range tropospheric forecasts in a current numerical weather prediction system. The global component of the Met Office Global and Regional Ensemble Prediction System is used, which is run at a resolution of N216 L85 with 24 ensemble members. We compare two scenarios of 31 day forecasts covering the same period, one with the current operational ozone climatology and the other with a monthly mean zonally averaged ozone field computed from the MLS data set. In the extreme case of the Arctic “ozone hole” of March 2011, our results show a general reduction in stratospheric forecast errors in the tropics and Southern Hemisphere as a result of the improved representation of ozone. However, even in such a scenario, where the MLS ozone field is much superior to that of the control, we find that tropospheric forecast errors in the medium‐extended range are dominated by the spread of ensemble members and no significant reduction in the root‐mean‐square forecast errors.