Coupling a new turbulence parametrization to RegCM adds realistic stratocumulus clouds

Geoscientific Model Development

Volumn 5, Issue 4, 2012, Pages 989-1008

  O'Brien, T A ^a,c   Chuang, P Y ^a   Sloan, L C ^a   Faloona, I C ^b   Rossiter, D L ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^c LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CLIMATE MODELING; CLOUD COVER; MARINE ATMOSPHERE; PARAMETERIZATION; PRECIPITATION (CLIMATOLOGY); REGIONAL CLIMATE; STRATOCUMULUS; TURBULENCE;

NORTH AMERICA;

EID: 84878109233     PISSN: 1991959X     EISSN: 19919603     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.5194/gmd-5-989-2012     Document Type: Article

References (66)

1. Adler, R. F., Huffman, G. J., Chang, A., Ferraro, R., Xie, P.-P., Janowiak, J., Rudolf, B., Schneider, U., Curtis, S., Bolvin, D., Gruber, A., Susskind, J., Arkin, P., and Nelkin, E.: The Version-2 Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Monthly Precipitation Analysis (1979-Present), J. Hydrometeor., 4, 1147-1167, 2003. (Pubitemid 38162561)
2. Bretherton, C. S. and Park, S.: A New Moist Turbulence Parameterization in the Community Atmosphere Model, J. Climate, 22, 3422-3448, 2009.
3. Bretherton, C. S. and Wyant, M. C.: Moisture Transport, LowerTropospheric Stability, and Decoupling of Cloud-Topped Boundary Layers, J. Atmos. Sci., 54, 148-167, 1997.
4. Bretherton, C. S., McCaa, J. R., and Grenier, H.: A New Parameterization for Shallow Cumulus Convection and Its Application to Marine Subtropical Cloud-Topped Boundary Layers, Part I: Description and 1D Results, Mon. Weather Rev., 132, 864-882, 2004a. (Pubitemid 38502752)
5. Bretherton, C. S., Uttal, T., Fairall, C. W., Yuter, S. E., Weller, R. A., Baumgardner, D., Comstock, K., Wood, R., and Raga, G. B.: The Epic 2001 Stratocumulus Study, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 85, 967-977, 2004b.
6. Briegleb, B. P.: Delta-Eddington Approximation for Solar Radiation in the NCAR Community Climate Model, J. Geophys. Res., 97, 7603-7612, 1992.
7. Burk, S. D. and Thompson, W. T.: The Summertime Low-Level Jet and Marine Boundary Layer Structure along the California Coast, Mon. Weather Rev., 124, 668-686, 1996. (Pubitemid 126531699)
8. Clement, A. C., Burgman, R., and Norris, J. R.: Observational and Model Evidence for Positive Low-Level Cloud Feedback, Science, 325, 460-464, 2009.
9. Dawson, T. E.: Fog in the California redwood forest: ecosystem inputs and use by plants, Oecologia, 117, 476-485, 1998. (Pubitemid 29053596)
10. Dickinson, R., Henderson-Sellers, A., and Kennedy, P.: Biosphere-Atmosphere Transfer Scheme (BATS) Version 1e as Coupled to the NCAR Community Climate Model, Tech. rep., NCAR/TN387+STR, 1993.
11. Dorman, C. E., Holt, T., Rogers, D. P., and Edwards, K.: LargeScale Structure of the June-July 1996 Marine Boundary Layer along California and Oregon, Mon. Weather Rev., 128, 1632-1652, 2000. (Pubitemid 30464411)
12. Evan, A. T., Heidinger, A. K., and Vimont, D. J.: Arguments against a physical long-term trend in global ISCCP cloud amounts, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L04701, doi:10.1029/2006GL028083, 2007. (Pubitemid 47272077)
13. Giorgi, F., Marinucci, M. R., and Bates, G. T.: Development of a Second-Generation Regional Climate Model (RegCM2). Part I: Boundary-Layer and Radiative Transfer Processes, Mon. Weather Rev. 121, 2794-2813, 1993. (Pubitemid 24402617)
14. Giorgi, F., Coppola, E., Solmon, F., Mariotti, L., Sylla, M., Bi, X., Elguindi, N., Diro, G. T., Nair, V., Giuliani, G., Cozzini, S., Guettler, I., O'Brien, T. A., Tawfik, A., Shalaby, A., Zakey, A., Steiner, A., Stordal, F., Sloan, L., and Brankovic, C.: RegCM4: Model description and preliminary tests over multiple CORDEX domains, Clim. Rev., 52, 7-29, doi:10.3354/cr01018, 2012.
15. Grell, G.: Prognostic Evaluation of Assumptions Used by Cumulus Parameterizations, Mon. Weather Rev., 121, 764-787, 1993. (Pubitemid 24392804)
16. Grenier, H. and Bretherton, C. S.: A Moist PBL Parameterization for Large-Scale Models and Its Application to Subtropical Cloud-Topped Marine Boundary Layers, Mon. Weather Rev., 129, 357-377, 2001. (Pubitemid 32418364)
17. Holtslag, A. and Boville, B.: Local Versus Nonlocal BoundaryLayer Diffusion in a Global Climate Model, J. Climate, 6, 1825-1842, 1993. (Pubitemid 24400129)
18. Holtslag, A. A. M., De Bruijn, E. I. F., and Pan, H.-L.: A High Resolution Air Mass Transformation Model for Short-Range Weather Forecasting, Mon. Weather Rev., 118, 1561-1575, 1990.
19. Hubanks, P. A., King, M. D., Platnick, S., and Pincus, R.: MODIS Atmosphere L3 Gridded Product Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document, ATBD MOD-30, NASA, available at: http://modis-atmos.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/L3ATBD20081204.pdf (last access: 1 August 2012), 2008.
20. Kanamitsu, M., Ebisuzaki, W., Woollen, J., Yang, S.-K., Hnilo, J. J., Fiorino, M., and Potter, G. L.: NCEP-DOE AMIP-II Reanalysis (R-2), B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 83, 1631-1643, 2002.
21. Kiehl, J. T., Hack, J. J., Bonan, G. B., Boville, B., Briegleb, B. P., Williamson, D. L., and Rasch, P.: Description of the NCAR Community Climate Model (CCM3), CGD, Tech. rep., NCAR TN420+STR, 1996.
22. Klein, S. A. and Hartmann, D. L.: The Seasonal Cycle of Low Stratiform Clouds, J. Climate, 6, 1587-1606, 1993. (Pubitemid 24396418)
23. Köhler, M.: Improved prediction of boundary layer clouds, ECMWF Newsletter, Reading, United Kingdom, 104, 18-22, 2005.
24. Koračin, D., Lewis, J., Thompson, W. T., Dorman, C. E., and Businger, J. A.: Transition of Stratus into Fog along the California Coast: Observations and Modeling, J. Atmos. Sci., 58, 1714-1731, 2001. (Pubitemid 32752862)
25. Kueppers, L. M., Snyder, M. A., Sloan, L. C., Zavaleta, E. S., and Fulfrost, B.: Modeled regional climate change and California endemic oak ranges, Proc. Nat. Aca. Sci. USA, 102, 16281-16286, 2005. (Pubitemid 41688905)
26. Lauer, A., Wang, Y., Phillips, V. T. J., McNaughton, C. S., Bennartz, R., and Clarke, A. D.: Simulating marine boundary layer clouds over the Eastern Pacific in a regional climate model with doublemoment cloud microphysics, J. Geophys. Res., 114, D21205, doi:10.1029/2009JD012201, 2009.
27. Lauer, A., Hamilton, K., Wang, Y., Phillips, V. T. J., and Bennartz, R.: The Impact of Global Warming on Marine Boundary Layer Clouds over the Eastern Pacific - A Regional Model Study, J. Climate, 23, 5844-5863, 2010.
28. Leung, L. R., Qian, Y., Bian, X., Washington, W. M., Han, J., and Roads, J. O.: Mid-Century Ensemble Regional Climate Change Scenarios for the Western United States, Climatic Change, 62, 75-113, 2004. (Pubitemid 38299998)
29. Lilly, D. K.: Models of cloud-topped mixed layers under a strong inversion, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 94, 292-309, 1968.
30. Lin, W., Zhang, M., and Loeb, N. G.: Seasonal Variation of the Physical Properties of Marine Boundary Layer Clouds off the California Coast, J. Climate, 22, 2624-2638, 2009.
31. Liu, Y. and Daum, P. H.: Parameterization of the Autoconversion Process, Part I: Analytical Formulation of the Kessler-Type Parameterizations, J. Atmos. Sci., 61, 1539-1548, 2004. (Pubitemid 39052231)
32. Liu, Y., Daum, P. H., McGraw, R., and Wood, R.: Parameterization of the Autoconversion Process, Part II: Generalization of Sundqvist-Type Parameterizations, J. Atmos. Sci., 63, 1103-1109, 2006.
33. Lock, A. P., Brown, A. R., Bush, M. R., Martin, G. M., and Smith, R. N. B.: A New Boundary Layer Mixing Scheme. Part I: Scheme Description and Single-Column Model Tests, Mon. Weather Rev., 128, 3187-3199, 2000.
34. Martin, G. M., Bush, M. R., Brown, A. R., Lock, A. P., and Smith, R. N. B.: A New Boundary Layer Mixing Scheme, Part II: Tests in Climate and Mesoscale Models, Mon. Weather Rev., 128, 3200-3217, 2000.
35. McCaa, J. R. and Bretherton, C. S.: A New Parameterization for Shallow Cumulus Convection and Its Application to Marine Subtropical Cloud-Topped Boundary Layers. Part II: Regional Simulations of Marine Boundary Layer Clouds, Mon. Weather Rev., 132, 883-896, 2004. (Pubitemid 38502753)
36. Meehl, G. A., Stocker, T. F., Collins, W. D., Friedlingstein, P., Gaye, A. T., M. Gregory, J., Kitoh, A., Knutti, R., Murphy, J. M., Noda, A., Raper, S. C. B., Watterson, I. G., Weaver, A. J., and Zhao, Z.-C.: Climate Change 20007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment FReport of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, chap. Global Climate Projections, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 747-845, 2007.
37. Mitchell, T. D. and Jones, P. D.: An improved method of constructing a database of monthly climate observations and associated high-resolution grids, Int. J. Climatol., 25, 693-712, 2005. (Pubitemid 40815726)
38. NCL: The NCAR Command Language (Version 5.2.1), Software, Boulder, Colorado: UCAR/NCAR/CISL/VETS, available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.5065/D6WD3XH5, 2012.
39. Nicholls, S. and Turton, J. D.: An observational study of the structure of stratiform cloud sheets: Part II, Entrainment, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 112, 461-480, 1986.
40. Norris, J. R.: Interannual and Interdecadal Variability in the Storm Track, Cloudiness, and Sea Surface Temperature over the Summertime North Pacific, J. Climate, 13, 422-430, 2000. (Pubitemid 30195130)
41. Norris, J. R. and Leovy, C. B.: interannual Variability in Stratiform Cloudiness and Sea Surface Temperature, J. Climate, 7, 1915-1925, 1994.
42. O'Brien, T. A., Daniels, B., Snyder, M. A., Stauffer, H., Uzilov, K., and Sloan, L. C.: Technical Note: An Objective Method for Determining Ground and Vegetation Albedo in RegCM, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., in preparation, 2012.
43. Oleson, K. W., Niu, G.-Y., Yang, Z.-L., Lawrence, D. M., Thornton, P. E., Lawrence, P. J., Stöckli, R., Dickinson, R. E., Bonan, G. B., Levis, S., Dai, A., and Qian, T.: Improvements to the Community Land Model and their impact on the hydrological cycle, J. Geophys. Res., 113, G01021, doi:10.1029/ 2007JG000563, 2008.
44. Pal, J., Small, E., and Eltahir, E.: Simulation of regional-scale water and energy budgets: Representation of subgrid cloud and precipitation processes within RegCM, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 105, 29579-29594, 2000. (Pubitemid 32300515)
45. Pal, J. S., Giorgi, F., Bi, X., Elguindi, N., Solomon, F., Gao, X., Francisco, R., Zakey, A., Winter, J., Ashfaq, M., Syed, F., Bell, J. L., Diffenbaugh, N. S., Karmacharya, J., Konare, A., Martinez, D., da Rocha, R. P., Sloan, L. C., and Steiner, A.: The ICTP RegCM3 and RegCNET: Regional Climate Modeling for the Developing World, B. Am. Meterol. Soc., 88, 1395-1409, 2007. (Pubitemid 47616760)
46. Park, S. and Bretherton, C. S.: The University of Washington Shallow Convection and Moist Turbulence Schemes and Their Impact on Climate Simulations with the Community Atmosphere Model, J. Climate, 22, 3449-3469, 2009.
47. Rahn, D. A. and Garreaud, R.: Marine boundary layer over the subtropical southeast Pacific during VOCALS-REx - Part 1: Mean structure and diurnal cycle, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 4491-4506, doi:10.5194/acp-10-4491-2010, 2010a.
48. Rahn, D. A. and Garreaud, R.: Marine boundary layer over the subtropical southeast Pacific during VOCALS-REx - Part 2: Synoptic variability, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 4507-4519, doi:10.5194/acp-10-4507-2010, 2010b.
49. Reynolds, R. W., Rayner, N. A., Smith, T. M., Stokes, D. C., and Wang, W.: An Improved In Situ and Satellite SST Analysis for Climate, J. Climate, 15, 1609-1625, 2002.
50. Rossow, W. B. and Schiffer, R. A.: Advances in Understanding Clouds from ISCCP, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 80, 2261-2288, 1999.
51. Schiffer, R. A. and Rossow, W. B.: The International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP): The First Project of the World Climate Research Programme, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 64, 779-784, 1983.
52. Snyder, M. A., Sloan, L. C., Diffenbaugh, N. S., and Bell, J. L.: Future climate change and upwelling in the California Current, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30, 1823-1827, 2003.
53. Steiner, A. L., Tonse, S., Cohen, R. C., Goldstein, A. H., and Harley, R. A.: Influence of future climate and emissions on regional air quality in California, J. Geophys. Res., 111, D18303, doi:10.1029/2005JD006935, 2006.
54. Stevens, B. and Feingold, G.: Untangling aerosol effects on clouds and precipitation in a buffered system, Nature, 461, 607-613, 2009.
55. Stevens, B., Lenschow, D. H., Vali, G., Gerber, H., Bandy, A., Blomquist, B., Brenguier, J.-L., Bretherton, C. S., Burnet, F., Campos, T., Chai, S., Faloona, I., Friesen, D., Haimov, S., Laursen, K., Lilly, D. K., Loehrer, S. M., Malinowski, S. P., Morley, B., Petters, M. D., Rogers, D. C., Russell, L., Savic-Jovcic, V., Snider, J. R., Straub, D., Szumowski, M. J., Takagi, H., Thornton, D. C., Tschudi, M., Twohy, C., Wetzel, M., and Zanten, M. C. v.: Dynamics and Chemistry of Marine Stratocumulus-DYCOMS-II, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 84, 579-593, 2003.
56. Stevens, B., Moeng, C.-H., Ackerman, A. S., Bretherton, C. S., Chlond, A., Roode, S. d., Edwards, J., Golaz, J.-C., Jiang, H., Khairoutdinov, M., Kirkpatrick, M. P., Lewellen, D. C., Lock, A., Stevens, Frank Müller, D. E., Whelan, E., and Zhu, P.: Evaluation of Large-Eddy Simulations via Observations of Nocturnal Marine Stratocumulus, Mon. Weather Rev., 133, 1443-1462, 2005. (Pubitemid 41300121)
57. Tawfik, A. B. and Steiner, A. L.: The role of soil ice in landatmosphere coupling over the United States: A soil moistureprecipitation winter feedback mechanism, J. Geophys. Res., 116, D02113, doi:10.1029/2010JD014333, 2011.
58. Taylor, K. E.: Summarizing multiple aspects of model performance in a single diagram, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 7183-7192, 2001.
59. Tennekes, H.: A Model for the Dynamics of the Inversion Above a Convective Boundary Layer, J. Atmos. Sci., 30, 558-567, 1973.
60. Troen, I. B. and Mahrt, L.: A simple model of the atmospheric boundary layer; sensitivity to surface evaporation, Bound.-Lay. Meteorol., 37, 129-148, 1986.
61. von Storch, H., Langenberg, H., and Feser, F.: A Spectral Nudging Technique for Dynamical Downscaling Purposes, Mon. Weather Rev., 128, 3664-3673, 2000.
62. Wang, Y., Xie, S.-P., Xu, H., and Wang, B.: Regional Model Simulations of Marine Boundary Layer Clouds over the Southeast Pacific off South America. Part I: Control Experiment, Mon. Weather Rev., 132, 274-296, 2004a. (Pubitemid 38453998)
63. Wang, Y., Xu, H., and Xie, S.-P.: Regional Model Simulations of Marine Boundary Layer Clouds over the Southeast Pacific off South America, Part II: Sensitivity Experiments, Mon. Weather Rev., 132, 2650-2668, 2004b. (Pubitemid 39622104)
64. Wang, Y., Xie, S.-P., Wang, B., and Xu, H.: Large-Scale Atmospheric Forcing by Southeast Pacific Boundary Layer Clouds: A Regional Model Study, J. Climate, 18, 934-951, 2005. (Pubitemid 40578913)
65. Wood, R. and Bretherton, C. S.: On the Relationship between Stratiform Low Cloud Cover and Lower-Tropospheric Stability, J. Climate, 19, 6425-6432, 2006. (Pubitemid 46085155)
66. Wyant, M. C., Wood, R., Bretherton, C. S., Mechoso, C. R., Bacmeister, J., Balmaseda, M. A., Barrett, B., Codron, F., Earnshaw, P., Fast, J., Hannay, C., Kaiser, J. W., Kitagawa, H., Klein, S. A., Köhler, M., Manganello, J., Pan, H.-L., Sun, F., Wang, S., and Wang, Y.: The PreVOCA experiment: modeling the lower troposphere in the Southeast Pacific, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 4757-4774, doi:10.5194/acp-10-4757-2010, 2010.