Application of a new scale-aware three-dimensional subgrid mixing parameterization on the simulations of tropical cyclone

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
mengjuan liu ◽  
Xu Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Turbulent Mixing ◽  
Doppler Radar ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Weather Research And Forecasting ◽  
Forecasting Model ◽  
Gray Zone ◽  
Synoptic Observations ◽  
Mobile Boundary

<p>A new scale-adaptive three-dimensional (3D) turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) subgrid mixing scheme is developed using the Advanced Research version of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF-ARW) to address the gray-zone problem in the parameterization of subgrid turbulent mixing. This scheme is based on the full 3D TKE prognostic equation and combines the horizontal and vertical subgrid turbulent mixing into a single energetically consistent framework.</p><p>A series of real tropical cyclone(TC) simulations with varying horizontal resolutions from 9km to 1km are carried out to compare the performance of the 3D mixing scheme and the conventional 1D planetary boundary layer (PBL) schemes to the observations, including conventional ones such as radiosonde and surface synoptic observations, as well as intensive ones obtained during the landfall of TC, such as mobile boundary layer wind profiler and Dual-pol Doppler Radar. This study aims to determine if the new scheme performs appropriate on TC simulation, and to evaluate the sensitivity of TC simulation to boundary layer schemes.</p>

“Gray Zone” Simulations using a Three-Dimensional Planetary Boundary Layer Parameterization in the Weather Research and Forecasting Model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy W. Juliano ◽  
Branko Kosović ◽  
Pedro A. Jiménez ◽  
Masih Eghdami ◽  
Sue Ellen Haupt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Planetary Boundary Layer ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Grid Cell ◽  
Weather Research And Forecasting ◽  
Forecasting Model ◽  
Gray Zone ◽  
Pbl Scheme ◽  
3D Effects ◽  
Mesoscale Simulations

AbstractGenerating accurate weather forecasts of planetary boundary layer (PBL) properties is challenging in many geographical regions, oftentimes due to complex topography or horizontal variability in, for example, land characteristics. While recent advances in high-performance computing platforms have led to an increase in the spatial resolution of numerical weather prediction (NWP) models, the horizontal grid cell spacing (Δ x) of many regional-scale NWP models currently fall within or are beginning to approach the gray zone (i.e., Δ x ≈ 100 – 1000 m). At these grid cell spacings, three-dimensional (3D) effects are important, as the most energetic turbulent eddies are neither fully parameterized (as in traditional mesoscale simulations) nor fully resolved [as in traditional large eddy simulations (LES)]. In light of this modeling challenge, we have implemented a 3D PBL parameterization for high-resolution mesoscale simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting model. The PBL scheme, which is based on the algebraic model developed by Mellor and Yamada, accounts for the 3D effects of turbulence by calculating explicitly the momentum, heat, and moisture flux divergences in addition to the turbulent kinetic energy. In this study, we present results from idealized simulations in the gray zone that illustrate the benefit of using a fully consistent turbulence closure framework under convective conditions. While the 3D PBL scheme reproduces the evolution of convective features more appropriately than the traditional 1D PBL scheme, we highlight the need to improve the turbulent length scale formulation.

scholarly journals The Influences of Boundary Layer Mixing and Cloud-Radiative Forcing on Tropical Cyclone Size

2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 1273-1292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yizhe Peggy Bu ◽  
Robert G. Fovell ◽  
Kristen L. Corbosiero
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Vertical Mixing ◽  
Outer Core ◽  
Weather Research And Forecasting ◽  
Forecasting Model ◽  
Convective Activity ◽  
Cloud Radiative Forcing ◽  
Mixing Coefficient

Abstract Tropical cyclone (TC) size is an important factor directly and indirectly influencing track, intensity, and related hazards, such as storm surge. Using a semi-idealized version of the operational Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting Model (HWRF), the authors show that both enabling cloud-radiative forcing (CRF) and enhancing planetary boundary layer (PBL) vertical mixing can encourage wider storms by enhancing TC outer-core convective activity. While CRF acts primarily above the PBL, eddy mixing moistens the boundary layer from below, both making peripheral convection more likely. Thus, these two processes can cooperate and compete, making their influences difficult to deconvolve and complicating the evaluation of model physics improvements, especially since the sensitivity to both decreases as the environment becomes less favorable. Further study shows not only the magnitude of the eddy mixing coefficient but also the shape of it can determine the TC size and structure.

scholarly journals Land-Use Improvements in the Weather Research and Forecasting Model over Complex Mountainous Terrain and Comparison of Different Grid Sizes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessio Golzio ◽  
Silvia Ferrarese ◽  
Claudio Cassardo ◽  
Gugliemina Adele Diolaiuti ◽  
Manuela Pelfini
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Mixing Layer ◽  
Local Area ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Weather Research And Forecasting ◽  
Forecasting Model ◽  
Mountainous Terrain ◽  
Weather Research

AbstractWeather forecasts over mountainous terrain are challenging due to the complex topography that is necessarily smoothed by actual local-area models. As complex mountainous territories represent 20% of the Earth’s surface, accurate forecasts and the numerical resolution of the interaction between the surface and the atmospheric boundary layer are crucial. We present an assessment of the Weather Research and Forecasting model with two different grid spacings (1 km and 0.5 km), using two topography datasets (NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission and Global Multi-resolution Terrain Elevation Data 2010, digital elevation models) and four land-cover-description datasets (Corine Land Cover, U.S. Geological Survey land-use, MODIS30 and MODIS15, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer land-use). We investigate the Ortles Cevadale region in the Rhaetian Alps (central Italian Alps), focusing on the upper Forni Glacier proglacial area, where a micrometeorological station operated from 28 August to 11 September 2017. The simulation outputs are compared with observations at this micrometeorological station and four other weather stations distributed around the Forni Glacier with respect to the latent heat, sensible heat and ground heat fluxes, mixing-layer height, soil moisture, 2-m air temperature, and 10-m wind speed. The different model runs make it possible to isolate the contributions of land use, topography, grid spacing, and boundary-layer parametrizations. Among the considered factors, land use proves to have the most significant impact on results.

scholarly journals Impact of environmental moisture on tropical cyclone intensification

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. 16111-16139 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Wu ◽  
H. Su ◽  
R. G. Fovell ◽  
T. J. Dunkerton ◽  
Z. Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Inner Core ◽  
Wrf Model ◽  
Weather Research And Forecasting ◽  
Convective Activity ◽  
Dry Air ◽  
Moving Storm ◽  
Lagrangian Boundary ◽  
Moisture Increase

Abstract. The impacts of environmental moisture on the intensification of a tropical cyclone (TC) are investigated in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, with a focus on the azimuthal asymmetry of the moisture impacts. A series of sensitivity experiments with varying moisture perturbations in the environment are conducted and the Marsupial Paradigm framework is employed to understand the different moisture impacts. We find that modification of environmental moisture has insignificant impacts on the storm in this case unless it leads to convective activity in the environment, which deforms the quasi-Lagrangian boundary of the storm. By facilitating convection and precipitation outside the storm, enhanced environmental moisture ahead of the northwestward-moving storm induces a dry air intrusion to the inner core and limits TC intensification. However, increased moisture in the rear quadrants favors intensification by providing more moisture to the inner core and promoting storm symmetry, with primary contributions coming from moisture increase in the boundary layer. The different impacts of environmental moisture on TC intensification are governed by the relative locations of moisture perturbations and their interactions with the storm Lagrangian structure.

scholarly journals Role of eyewall and rainband eddy forcing in tropical cyclone intensification

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (22) ◽  
pp. 14289-14310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Zhu ◽  
Bryce Tyner ◽  
Jun A. Zhang ◽  
Eric Aligo ◽  
Sundararaman Gopalakrishnan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Turbulent Mixing ◽  
Inner Core ◽  
Weather Research And Forecasting ◽  
Rapid Changes ◽  
Flow Feature ◽  
Secondary Circulations ◽  
Vertical Turbulent Mixing ◽  
Operational Models

Abstract. While turbulence is commonly regarded as a flow feature pertaining to the planetary boundary layer (PBL), intense turbulent mixing generated by cloud processes also exists above the PBL in the eyewall and rainbands of a tropical cyclone (TC). The in-cloud turbulence above the PBL is intimately involved in the development of convective elements in the eyewall and rainbands and consists of a part of asymmetric eddy forcing for the evolution of the primary and secondary circulations of a TC. In this study, we show that the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) model, one of the operational models used for TC prediction, is unable to generate appropriate sub-grid-scale (SGS) eddy forcing above the PBL due to a lack of consideration of intense turbulent mixing generated by the eyewall and rainband clouds. Incorporating an in-cloud turbulent-mixing parameterization in the vertical turbulent-mixing scheme notably improves the HWRF model's skills in predicting rapid changes in intensity for several past major hurricanes. While the analyses show that the SGS eddy forcing above the PBL is only about one-fifth of the model-resolved eddy forcing, the simulated TC vortex inner-core structure, secondary overturning circulation, and the model-resolved eddy forcing exhibit a substantial dependence on the parameterized SGS eddy processes. The results highlight the importance of eyewall and rainband SGS eddy forcing to numerical prediction of TC intensification, including rapid intensification at the current resolution of operational models.

scholarly journals A Comparison of HWRF Six-Hourly 4DEnVar and Hourly 3DEnVar Assimilation of Inner Core Tail Dopper Radar Observations for the Prediction of Hurricane Edouard (2014)

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 942
Author(s):  
Benjamin Davis ◽  
Xuguang Wang ◽  
Xu Lu
Keyword(s):  
Inner Core ◽  
Doppler Radar ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Weather Research And Forecasting ◽  
Location Error ◽  
Background Error ◽  
Error Covariance ◽  
Storm Center ◽  
The One ◽  
Better Than

Six-hourly three-dimensional ensemble variational (3DEnVar) (6H-3DEnVar) data assimilation (DA) assumes constant background error covariance (BEC) during a six-hour DA window and is, therefore, unable to account for temporal evolution of the BEC. This study evaluates the one-hourly 3DEnVar (1H-3DEnVar) and six-hourly 4DEnVar (6H-4DEnVar) DA methods for the analyses and forecasts of hurricanes with rapidly evolving BEC. Both methods account for evolving BEC in a hybrid EnVar DA system. In order to compare these methods, experiments are conducted by assimilating inner core Tail Doppler Radar (TDR) wind for Hurricane Edouard (2014) and by running the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) model. In most metrics, 1H-3DEnVar and 6H-4DEnVar analyses and forecasts verify better than 6H-3DEnVar. 6H-4DEnVar produces better thermodynamic analyses than 1H-3DEnVar. Radar reflectivity shows that 1H-3DEnVar produces better structure forecasts. For the first 24–48 h of the intensity forecast, 6H-4DEnVar forecast performs better than 1H-3DEnVar verified against the best track. Degraded 1H-3DEnVar forecasts are found to be associated with background storm center location error as a result of underdispersive ensemble storm center spread. Removing location error in the background improves intensity forecasts of 1H-3DEnVar.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the Hurricane Research Division Doppler Radar Analysis Software Using Synthetic Data

2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 1055-1071 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvie Lorsolo ◽  
John Gamache ◽  
Altug Aksoy
Keyword(s):  
Doppler Radar ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Synthetic Data ◽  
Vertical Component ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Weather Research And Forecasting ◽  
Analysis Software ◽  
Wind Fields ◽  
Research Division ◽  
Tangential Wind

Abstract The Hurricane Research Division Doppler radar analysis software provides three-dimensional analyses of the three wind components in tropical cyclones. Although this software has been used for over a decade, there has never been a complete and in-depth evaluation of the resulting analyses. The goal here is to provide an evaluation that will permit the best use of the analyses, but also to improve the software. To evaluate the software, analyses are produced from simulated radar data acquired from an output of a Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) model nature run and are compared against the model “truth” wind fields. Comparisons of the three components of the wind show that the software provides analyses of good quality. The tangential wind is best retrieved, exhibiting an overall small mean error of 0.5 m s−1 at most levels and a root-mean-square error less than 2 m s−1. The retrieval of the radial wind is also quite accurate, exhibiting comparable errors, although the accuracy of the tangential wind is generally better. Some degradation of the retrieval quality is observed at higher altitude, mainly due to sparser distribution of data in the model. The vertical component of the wind appears to be the most challenging to retrieve, but the software still provides acceptable results. The tropical cyclone mean azimuthal structure and wavenumber structure are found to be very well captured. Sources of errors inherent to airborne Doppler measurements and the effects of some of the simplifications used in the simulation methodology are also discussed.

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