Representing Low-Intensity Fire Sensible Heat Output in a Mesoscale Atmospheric Model with a Canopy Submodel: A Case Study with ARPS-CANOPY (version 5.2.12) [Data set]

This is the companion dataset to the <a href="https://www.geoscientific-model-development.net">Geoscientific Model Development</a> manuscript "Representing Low-Intensity Fire Sensible Heat Output in a Mesoscale Atmospheric Model with a Canopy Submodel: A Case Study with ARPS-CANOPY (version 5.2.12)".
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Mesoscale models are a class of atmospheric numerical model designed to simulate atmospheric phenomena with horizontal scales of about 2-200 km, although they are also applied to microscale phenomena, with horizontal scales less than about 2 km. Mesoscale models are capable of simulating wildland fire impacts on atmospheric flows tens of meters to hundreds of kilometers away from the fire, if combustion by-products (e.g., heat, smoke) are properly represented in the model. One of the primary challenges encountered in applying a mesoscale model to studies of fire-perturbed flows is the representation of the subgrid-scale fire sensible heat source in the model.
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In this study, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50491">ARPS-CANOPY</a> model, a version of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s007030070003">Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS)</a> model with a canopy submodel, is utilized to simulate the turbulent atmosphere during a March 2019 low-intensity prescribed fire in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, USA. The study takes place in two phases: model assessment and model sensitivity. In the model assessment phase, analysis is limited to a single control simulation based on a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-13-0131.1">previous application of ARPS-CANOPY to a low-intensity prescribed fire in the New Jersey Pine Barrens</a>. In the model sensitivity phase, a series of simulations are conducted to explore the sensitivity of model-observation agreement to (i) the method used to represent the fire sensible heat source in the model and (ii) parameters controlling the magnitude and vertical distribution of the sensible heat source. In both phases, momentum and scalar fields are compared between the model simulations and data obtained from six flux towers located within and adjacent to the burn unit. The study findings provide useful guidance for improving the representation of the sensible heat released from low-intensity fires in mesoscale models.
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The contents of the dataset are described in detail in the document "00_README_master" and in the metadata below.