Wind and gust forecasts assessment of Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model in Córdoba, Argentina

Abstract

WRF wind forecasts from four operative schemes used by OHMC (Observatorio HidroMeteorológico de Córdoba), a test scheme (WRF-E) and two daily runs with 4 km horizontal resolution were analyzed. Wind simulations were compared with measurements from eight ground stations with anemometers at 10 m high during the period from June, 2019 to June, 2020. WRF-E incorporates more vertical levels, and an activated topo_wind option. The wind speed results show that WRF overestimates wind speed at most stations and the WRF-E model reduces the BIAS and the RMSE when compared with the operational models. The wind direction analysis shows that the higher the wind speed is, the more accurate the models are. In addition, a wind gust forecasting has been implemented and evaluated in this work. Wind gust correlation coefficient values are between 0.3 and 0.6, RMSE is between 3 and 5 m/s, and a positive BIAS (<2 m/s) at most stations