. Improvements to the Real-Time Mesoscale Analysis (RTMA)

Abstract
Short-term forecasting requires a timely, accurate, and rapidly updating analysis of current atmospheric conditions for general situational awareness. The Real-Time Mesoscale Analysis (RTMA) was developed to provide forecasters with frequent high-resolution meteorological displays over the continental U.S. (CONUS) and, more recently, other regions of interest such as Alaska, Hawaii, and the Caribbean. While RTMA is very useful in its current configuration, several upgrades are being developed at the Global Systems Division (GSD) to improve accuracy and expand RTMA capabilities. Primary of these upgrades is to extend the current two-dimensional framework to a 3-D RTMA. The 3D-RTMA system builds upon the operational RTMA system, which are currently limited to fields that correspond to official National Weather Service (NWS) gridded forecasts, mostly surface fields. Extending the RTMA to three dimensions allows for the creation of highly useful nowcasting products. GSD is also working to improve ceiling and visibility (C&V) products through updates to the High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) short term forecast (including nowcasting for 0-1h and overall lead times of ~0‒6 h) over CONUS and Alaska, used as a background for the RTMA. Enhancements are also being developed to the C&V processing tools used to compute the fields. We will provide examples on GSD development of RTMA upgrades and describe how these improvements will impact nowcasting and short term forecasts.