Having successfully implemented the PSU/NCAR Mesoscale Model 5 (MM5) in the Agila Beowulf cluster of Ateneo, the Atmospheric Modeling Group (AMG) of the Manila Observatory was able to make several test runs on the Luzon island domain (12.2 deg to 18.8 deg latitude, 118.5 deg to 124.6 deg longitude) for the first 25 days of February 2001 resulting in conclusions that given the present configuration of the model (default), MM5 overestimates the magnitude of rainfall in a given area. Rainfall occurrence tended to be earlier and more frequent than is observed resulting in substandard correlations between model and actual data. These preliminary findings show that it is imperative that sensitivity analyses and testing is done on the model before it may reliably simulate the Philippine domain.
[Presented at the Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas (SPP) Congress, 2001.]