jbathegit
commented
1 year ago Hi @AndrewBenjamin-NOAA, and thanks for your submission. I'm a long-time member of WMO's task team on BUFR and GRIB, and in fact I also happen to work at NCEP/EMC myself, so it's nice to "meet" you! :-)
This seems like a fairly straightforward request, and it shouldn't be any problem to get this included as new entry 27 in the next manual 306 update in May 2023. But I do have a couple of questions:
- First off, we don't normally include "Hourly" (or any time-based adjective) in the name of a CT 4.2 parameter. In other words, the fact that you're planning to issue it on an hourly basis doesn't need to be reflected in the parameter name, unless I'm missing something. So couldn't we just call it "Wildfire Potential Index", and then you could just issue it however often you want? Furthermore, this would allow it to be more flexible for future use, for example if at some point in the future the HRRR model was able to provide even more frequent updates than on an hourly basis.
- Also, can you clarify who or what agency developed this new index (was it NOAA/OAR/GSL)? The reason I ask is because, as you're likely aware, many of the existing D2, C4 entries in CT 4.2 contain an
(as defined by XXXX)qualifier as part of the parameter name, so it might be nice to document this in case some different agency in the future develops their own new "Wildfire Potential Index" and wants to be able to distinguish it from yours.
Please let me know - thanks!
amilan17
sebvi
Initial request
NOAA-NCEP-EMC/NOAA-GSL are requesting an additional entry to Code Table 4.2 Discipline 2, Category 4 (Land Surface products, Fire Weather category).
Amendment details
Add to Code Table 4.2, discipline 2, category 4:
Comments
Note: The Wildfire Potential (HWP) is an index which reflects the severity of fire weather conditions on existing wildfires. It's planned to be calculated on an hourly basis using 10-m wind gust potential, 2-m dewpoint depression, and soil moisture availability. It does not attempt to predict the likelihood of the formation of new fires. Higher values denote more severe conditions.
This Index has similarities to the Fosburg Index and the Hot Dry Windy Index. The novelty of this new index is that it is intended to be applied to hourly model output, with new index values provided hourly.
The equation: HWP = 0.237 (G ^ 1.11) (DD ^ 0.92) ( (1.0 - M) ^ 6.95) S where G= 10m wind gust potential diagnostic (as defined by the NOAA Technical Memorandum OAR GSL-66) DD= 2m dewpoint depression M= Soil moisture availability in the top soil layer S= max (0, (25.4 kg/m2 - SWE) / (25.4 kg/m2)) where SWE= Snow water equivalent S reduces the HWP if no snow is on the ground.
Requestor(s)
Andrew Benjamin (NOAA-NCEP-EMC)
Stakeholder(s)
Enter list of stakeholder(s).
Publication(s)
Manual on Codes (WMO-No. 306), Volume I.2, GRIB code table 4.2, discipline 2, category 4
Expected impact of change
MEDIUM
Collaborators
Eric James (NOAA-GSL)
References
N/A. Manuscript in preparation of submission to Weather and Forecasting
Validation
No response