The National Weather Service (NWS) provides an operational and development Real-Time Mesoscale Analysis (RTMA) of basic hydrometeorological variables which match the 5km spatial resolution of the NWS National Digital Forecast Database(NDFD). Products from these analyses are generated hourly. The RTMA is described as the first component of the NWS' Analysis of Record project to provide a comprehensive set of best possible analyses of the atmosphere at high spatial and temporal resolution.
NOAA/ARL/ATDD operates two regional meteorological mesonets. The Regional Atmospheric Monitoring and Analytical Network (RAMAN) is a rural regional meteorological network located within the domain of the East Tennessee River Valley. This network has operated since 1990 serving to provide background meteorological measurements supporting emergency management and air-quality studies conducted within the East Tennessee Valley. The dense configuration of measurements is intended to resolve the regional ridge/valley topography as well as the higher terrain of the Great Smoky Mountains to the east and Cumberland Mountains to the west of the valley. The DCNet system is a dense network of rooftop observation stations located within the Washington, DC National Capital Region (NCR). DCNet supports the NOAA/ARL urban meteorology program addressing measurements of surface fluxes of heat and momentum with urban environments. Data from the DCNet system are reported to NOAA's MADIS system and incorporated in the generation of RTMA products; data from the RAMAN network are not provided to MADIS and serve as an independent evaluation system.
NOAA/ATDD has develop an evaluation system (http://dataviewer.atdd.noaa.gov/rtmacomparison) for comparison of predicted winds and temperatures from both operational and developmental RTMA systems against observations from the DCNet and RAMAN networks. While diurnal variations are evident, both RTMA operational and developmental predictions of winds and temperature appear to be highly correlated with DCNet measurements. Comparison of RTMA predictions with RAMAN measurements indicates considerable diurnal scatter in differences. For valley observation sites, RTMA surface winds and temperature are considerably overestimated at night . Evaluation of differences between RTMA predictions and observations indicates increasing scatter as the elevation of the observation station increases.