Model:

RAP (Rapid Refresh)

Ververst:
24 times per day, from 00:00 - 23:00 UTC
Greenwich Mean Time:
12:00 UTC = 13:00 MET
Resolutie:
0.128° x 0.123°
Parameter:
Verticale beweging op 500 hPa in hPa/h
Beschrijving:
De verticale beweging van de lucht bepaald in hoofdlijnen het weer op een bepaalde plaats. Stijgende luchtbeweging (negatieve waardes in de kaart) veroorzaakt meestal bewolking en vaak ook neerslag, terwijl dalende luchtbeweging (positieve waardes in de kaart) voor oplossende bewolking en zonnig weer zorgt. Bij zeer sterke verticale luchtbeweging hoort in principe onweer en zwaar weer. Door de combinatie met vertical 925 kan met zien of ook in diepere lagen al forse stijgbeweging optreedt. Bij vermenigvuldiging van de waardes in (hPa/h) met ongeveer 0.3 krijgt men als resultaat de verticale wind in cm/s. De verticale beweging is de som van vorticiteits- en temperatuuradvectie. Deze twee kunnen afzonderlijk groot zijn en elkaar deels of geheel opheffen.
RAP:
RAP
The Rapid Refresh (RAP) is a NOAA/NCEP operational weather prediction system comprised primarily of a numerical forecast model and analysis/assimilation system to initialize that model. It is run with a horizontal resolution of 13 km and 50 vertical layers. ,
The RAP was developed to serve users needing frequently updated short-range weather forecasts, including those in the US aviation community and US severe weather forecasting community. The model is run for every hour of day and is integrated to 18 hours for each cycle. The RAP uses the ARW core of the WRF model and the Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation (GSI) analysis - the analysis is aided with the assimilation of cloud and hydrometeor data to provide more skill in short-range cloud and precipitation forecasts.
NWP:
Numerical weather prediction uses current weather conditions as input into mathematical models of the atmosphere to predict the weather. Although the first efforts to accomplish this were done in the 1920s, it wasn't until the advent of the computer and computer simulation that it was feasible to do in real-time. Manipulating the huge datasets and performing the complex calculations necessary to do this on a resolution fine enough to make the results useful requires the use of some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world. A number of forecast models, both global and regional in scale, are run to help create forecasts for nations worldwide. Use of model ensemble forecasts helps to define the forecast uncertainty and extend weather forecasting farther into the future than would otherwise be possible.

Wikipedia, Numerical weather prediction, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerical_weather_prediction(as of Feb. 9, 2010, 20:50 UTC).