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:
Maximum wind velocity of convective wind gusts
Beschrijving:
The method of Ivens (1987) is used by the forecasters at KNMI to predict the maximum wind velocity associated with heavy showers or thunderstorms. The method of Ivens is based on two multiple regression equations that were derived using about 120 summertime cases (April to September) between 1980 and 1983. The upper-air data were derived from the soundings at De Bilt, and observations of thunder by synop stations were used as an indicator of the presence of convection. The regression equations for the maximum wind velocity (wmax ) in m/s according to Ivens (1987) are:

where The amount of negative buoyancy, which is estimated in these equations by the difference of the potential wet-bulb temperature at 850 and at 500 hPa, and horizontal wind velocities at one or two fixed altitudes are used to estimate the maximum wind velocity. The effect of precipitation loading is not taken into account by the method of Ivens. (Source: KNMI)
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).