1. Use of the Hirlam NWP Model
at Met Éireann (Irish Meteorological Service)
(James Hamilton -- Met Éireann)

2. COMPUTER SYSTEM and VERSIONS of HIRLAM
IBM RS/6000 SP : 9-nodes each with 4-CPU’s
Operational Hirlam : 438x284 grid pts; 31-levels
Nested Hirlam : 222x210 grid pts; 40-levels
LINUX PC : Twin Xeon Processors [2.0Ghz]
Backup Hirlam : 218x144; 31-levels
LINUX PC : Twin Xeon Processors [500Mhz]
Hourly Hirlam : 97x98 grid pts; 24-levels

3. OPERATIONAL HIRLAM … IBM RS/6000 SP
HIRLAM with 3DVAR
3-Hour assimilation cycle with 48-hour forecasts every 6-hours
Rotated lat/long 0.15x0.15 grid with 438x284 grid points
Hybrid [eta] coordinates with 31-levels
CBR vertical diffusion scheme; Sundqvist condensation scheme
STRACO cloud scheme; Savijarvi radiation scheme
Digital filter initialisation
Two time-level Semi-Lagrangian semi-implicit scheme
Use of ‘frame’ boundaries from ECMWF

6. BACKUP HIRLAM … LINUX-PC [Dual 2.0Ghz CPU]
HIRLAM with OI-Analysis
3-Hour assimilation cycle with 48-hour forecasts every 6-hours
Rotated lat/long 0.30x0.30 grid with 218x144 grid points
Hybrid [eta] coordinates with 31-levels
SAME AREA AS OPERATIONAL HIRLAM

8. NESTED HIRLAM … IBM RS/6000 SP
HIRLAM with 3DVAR
3-Hour assimilation cycle with 24-hour forecasts every 6-hours
Model runs at intermediate hours … 03Z, 09Z, 15Z, 21Z
Rotated lat/long 0.12x0.12 grid with 222x210 grid points
Hybrid [eta] coordinates with 40-levels
Kain-Fritsch/Rasch-Kristjansson convection/condensation scheme
ISBA surface scheme
Output post-processed with MOS

10. HOURLY HIRLAM ... LINUX-PC [Dual 500Mhz CPU]
HIRLAM 4.3 with OI Analysis
Hourly assimilation cycle with hourly analysis and 3-hour forecast
Rotated lat/long 0.15x0.15 grid with 97x98 grid points
Hybrid [eta] coordinates with 24-levels
Analysis shown on public web-site

12. OPERATIONAL USES of HIRLAM
General Forecasting
Forecast guidance out to 48-hours
WAM wave model
Forecast 10-metre winds used to drive model
Roadice Prediction System
Forecast parameters are used as first guess for [human] forecaster
SATREP
Overlay on satellite plots [ZAMG SATREP analysis scheme]

13. RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Better Specification of B.C.’s for NWP models
Operational Implementation of Nested System
Regional Climate Analysis Modelling & Prediction Centre
Community Climate Change Consortium for Ireland
[RCAMPC and C4I]

16. Purchase small experimental Linux-Cluster
FUTURE PLANS …
Purchase small experimental Linux-Cluster
Budget of approx Euro 50k
Use as backup for main computer [Operational Hirlam]
Gain experience with Linux clusters
Investigate MOS/Neural-Nets for Post-Processing
Use Hirlam as input to Point Data-Base

17. Thank You