The Time-Varying Microscale (TVM) model is a microscale diagnostic model specifically designed to compute data for extremely high-resolution mapping (tens of meters to a few hundred meters) without the high computational costs of running a mesoscale

Mesoscale

Mesoscale may refer to:* Mesoscale meteorology* Mesoscopic scale in physics...

 Numerical Weather Prediction

Numerical weather prediction

Numerical weather prediction uses mathematical models of the atmosphere and oceans to predict the weather based on current weather conditions. Though first attempted in the 1920s, it was not until the advent of computer simulation in the 1950s that numerical weather predictions produced realistic...

 (NWP) model such as Weather Research and Forecasting model

Weather Research and Forecasting model

The Weather Research and Forecasting model, , is a specific computer program with a dual use for forecasting and research. It was created through a partnership that includes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , the National Center for Atmospheric Research , and more than 150 other...

 (WRF).

TVM uses high-resolution land surface data to calculate the effects of microscale terrain features, near-surface roughness features, and other terrain blocking effects typically left unresolved by coarser mesoscale NWP models. Microscale terrain features are resolved using a kinematic

Kinematics

Kinematics is the branch of classical mechanics that describes the motion of bodies and systems without consideration of the forces that cause the motion....

 terrain adjustment, near-surface roughness features are resolved using a log-profile surface roughness adjustment, and a Froude number

Froude number

The Froude number is a dimensionless number defined as the ratio of a characteristic velocity to a gravitational wave velocity. It may equivalently be defined as the ratio of a body's inertia to gravitational forces. In fluid mechanics, the Froude number is used to determine the resistance of an...

 adjustment is applied to calculate terrain-blocking effects on wind flow.

All of these effects are computed at each time step in the study period and based not only on wind speed

Wind speed

Wind speed, or wind velocity, is a fundamental atmospheric rate.Wind speed affects weather forecasting, aircraft and maritime operations, construction projects, growth and metabolism rate of many plant species, and countless other implications....

 and elevation

Elevation

The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....

, but also on quantities such as wind direction

Wind direction

Wind direction is reported by the direction from which it originates. For example, a northerly wind blows from the north to the south. Wind direction is usually reported in cardinal directions or in azimuth degrees...

 and thermodynamic properties of the lower atmosphere

Atmosphere

An atmosphere is a layer of gases that may surround a material body of sufficient mass, and that is held in place by the gravity of the body. An atmosphere may be retained for a longer duration, if the gravity is high and the atmosphere's temperature is low...

, enabling a sophisticated time-varying spatial analysis

Spatial analysis

Spatial analysis or spatial statistics includes any of the formal techniques which study entities using their topological, geometric, or geographic properties...

.