Data archive for: Exploring the use of machine learning to improve vertical profiles of temperature and moisture

Vertical profiles of temperature and dewpoint are useful in predicting deep convection that leads to severe weather that threatens property and lives. Currently, forecasters rely on observations from radiosonde launches and numerical weather prediction (NWP) models. Radiosonde observations are, however, temporally and spatially sparse, and NWP models contain inherent errors that influence short-term predictions of high-impact events. This work explores using machine learning (ML) to postprocess NWP model forecasts, combining them with satellite data to improve vertical profiles of temperature and dewpoint. We focus on different ML architectures, loss functions, and input features to optimize predictions. Because we are predicting vertical profiles at 256 levels in the atmosphere, this work provides a unique perspective at using ML for 1-D tasks. Compared to baseline profiles from the Rapid Refresh (RAP), ML predictions offer the largest improvement for dewpoint, particularly in the mid-...