Abstract. We present a feasibility study for an object-based method to
characterise thunderstorm properties in simulation data from
convection-permitting weather models. An existing thunderstorm
tracker, the Thunderstorm Identification, Tracking, Analysis and
Nowcasting (TITAN) algorithm, was applied to thunderstorms simulated
by the Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting (AR-WRF)
weather model at convection-permitting resolution for a domain centred
on Switzerland. Three WRF microphysics parameterisations were
tested. The results are compared to independent radar-based
observations of thunderstorms derived using the MeteoSwiss
Thunderstorms Radar Tracking (TRT) algorithm. TRT was specifically
designed to track thunderstorms over the complex Alpine topography of
Switzerland. The object-based approach produces statistics on the
simulated thunderstorms that can be compared to object-based
observation data. The results indicate that the simulations
underestimated the occurrence of severe and very large hail compared
to the observations. Other properties, including the number of storm
cells per day, geographical storm hotspots, thunderstorm diurnal
cycles, and storm movement directions and velocities, provide a
reasonable match to the observations, which shows the feasibility of
the technique for characterisation of simulated thunderstorms over
complex terrain.