Evaluation of the WRF PBL Parameterizations for Marine Boundary Layer Clouds: Cumulus and Stratocumulus

AbstractThe performance of five boundary layer parameterizations in the Weather Research and Forecasting Model is examined for marine boundary layer cloud regions running in single-column mode. Most parameterizations show a poor agreement of the vertical boundary layer structure when compared with large-eddy simulation models. These comparisons against large-eddy simulation show that a parameterization based on the eddy-diffusivity/mass-flux approach provides a better performance. The results also illustrate the key role of boundary layer parameterizations in model performance.

[1]  C. Bretherton,et al.  Parameterization of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer , 2005 .

[2]  A. P. Siebesma Shallow Cumulus Convection , 1998 .

[3]  B. Grisogono,et al.  Atmospheric Boundary Layers , 2007 .

[4]  A. P. Siebesma,et al.  Rain in Shallow Cumulus Over the Ocean: The RICO Campaign , 2007 .

[5]  B. Grisogono,et al.  A Total Turbulent Energy Closure Model for Neutrally and Stably Stratified Atmospheric Boundary Layers , 2007 .

[6]  V. Delnore Diurnal Variation of Temperature and Energy Budget for the Oceanic Mixed Layer During BOMEX , 1972 .

[7]  Frederick H. Carr,et al.  A Prognostic Cloud Scheme for Operational NWP Models , 1997 .

[8]  B. Stevens,et al.  On the Structure of the Lower Troposphere in the Summertime Stratocumulus Regime of the Northeast Pacific , 2007 .

[9]  P. Duynkerke,et al.  Comparison of the ECMWF Reanalysis with FIRE I Observations: Diurnal Variation of Marine Stratocumulus , 2001 .

[10]  Song‐You Hong,et al.  The WRF Single-Moment 6-Class Microphysics Scheme (WSM6) , 2006 .

[11]  H. Niino,et al.  An Improved Mellor–Yamada Level-3 Model with Condensation Physics: Its Design and Verification , 2004 .

[12]  H. Pan,et al.  Nonlocal Boundary Layer Vertical Diffusion in a Medium-Range Forecast Model , 1996 .

[13]  A. P. Siebesma An Advection-Diffusion scheme for the convective boundary layer: description and 1d-results , 2000 .

[14]  John S. Kain,et al.  Convective parameterization for mesoscale models : The Kain-Fritsch Scheme , 1993 .

[15]  A. P. Siebesma,et al.  A Large Eddy Simulation Intercomparison Study of Shallow Cumulus Convection , 2003 .

[16]  G. Thompson,et al.  Impact of Cloud Microphysics on the Development of Trailing Stratiform Precipitation in a Simulated Squall Line: Comparison of One- and Two-Moment Schemes , 2009 .

[17]  J. Slingo,et al.  Tropical forecasting at ECMWF: The influence of physical parametrization on the mean structure of forecasts and analyses , 2006 .

[18]  J. Dudhia,et al.  A Revised Approach to Ice Microphysical Processes for the Bulk Parameterization of Clouds and Precipitation , 2004 .

[19]  G. Mellor,et al.  Development of a turbulence closure model for geophysical fluid problems , 1982 .

[20]  H. Niino,et al.  An Improved Mellor–Yamada Level-3 Model: Its Numerical Stability and Application to a Regional Prediction of Advection Fog , 2006 .

[21]  Joanne Simpson,et al.  Goddard Cumulus Ensemble Model. Part I: Model Description , 1993 .

[22]  E. Kessler On the distribution and continuity of water substance in atmospheric circulations , 1969 .

[23]  John S. Kain,et al.  The Kain–Fritsch Convective Parameterization: An Update , 2004 .

[24]  S. Bony,et al.  Comparing clouds and their seasonal variations in 10 atmospheric general circulation models with satellite measurements , 2005 .

[25]  Thorsten Mauritsen,et al.  Performance of an Eddy Diffusivity-Mass Flux Scheme for Shallow Cumulus Boundary Layers , 2010 .

[26]  E. Rasmusson,et al.  Measurements of the Atmospheric Mass, Energy, and Momentum Budgets Over a 500-Kilometer Square of Tropical Ocean , 1973 .

[27]  R. Neggers A Dual Mass Flux Framework for Boundary Layer Convection. Part II: Clouds , 2009 .

[28]  G. Powers,et al.  A Description of the Advanced Research WRF Version 3 , 2008 .

[29]  A. P. Siebesma,et al.  Cloud representation in general‐circulation models over the northern Pacific Ocean: A EUROCS intercomparison study , 2004 .

[30]  J. Dudhia,et al.  A New Vertical Diffusion Package with an Explicit Treatment of Entrainment Processes , 2006 .

[31]  João Paulo Teixeira,et al.  An eddy‐diffusivity/mass‐flux parametrization for dry and shallow cumulus convection , 2004 .

[32]  G. Matheou,et al.  Eddy Diffusivity/Mass Flux and Shallow Cumulus Boundary Layer: An Updraft PDF Multiple Mass Flux Scheme , 2012 .

[33]  D. Lilly,et al.  Dynamics and chemistry of marine stratocumulus - DYCOMS II , 2003 .

[34]  A. P. Siebesma,et al.  Evaluation of Parametric Assumptions for Shallow Cumulus Convection , 1995 .

[35]  João Paulo Ramos Teixeira,et al.  Tropical and Subtropical Cloud Transitions in Weather and Climate Prediction Models: The GCSS/WGNE Pacific Cross-Section Intercomparison (GPCI) , 2011 .

[36]  Zaviša I. Janić Nonsingular implementation of the Mellor-Yamada level 2.5 scheme in the NCEP Meso model , 2001 .

[37]  H. D. Orville,et al.  Bulk Parameterization of the Snow Field in a Cloud Model , 1983 .

[38]  W. Angevine An Integrated Turbulence Scheme for Boundary Layers with Shallow Cumulus Applied to Pollutant Transport , 2005 .

[39]  A. P. Siebesma,et al.  A Combined Eddy-Diffusivity Mass-Flux Approach for the Convective Boundary Layer , 2007 .

[40]  M. Witek,et al.  An Integrated TKE-Based Eddy Diffusivity/Mass Flux Boundary Layer Closure for the Dry Convective Boundary Layer , 2010 .

[41]  S. Klein,et al.  The Seasonal Cycle of Low Stratiform Clouds , 1993 .

[42]  Pedro M. M. Soares,et al.  Parameterization of the atmospheric boundary layer: A View from just above the inversion , 2008 .

[43]  C. Bretherton,et al.  Evaluation of Large-Eddy Simulations via Observations of Nocturnal Marine Stratocumulus , 2005 .