Evaluating the performance of a WRF microphysics ensemble through comparisons with aircraft observations

Abstract Aircraft observation data obtained in a mesoscale convective system are compared to Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model simulations using four microphysics schemes (Morrison, WSM6, P3, SBM) with different complexities. The main purpose of this paper is to assess the performance of the microphysics ensemble in terms of cloud microphysical properties. Results show that although the vertical distributions of liquid water content (LWC) and ice water content (IWC) simulated by the four members are quite different in the convective cloud region, they are relatively uniform in the stratiform cloud region. Overall, the results of the Morrison scheme are very similar to the ensemble average, and both of them are closer to the observations compared to the other schemes. Besides, the authors also note that all members still overpredict the LWC by a factor of 2–8 in some regions, resulting in large deviation between the observation and ensemble average. 摘要 使用 WRF 模式中的 Morrison,WSM6,SBM,P3 四种微物理方案的集合, 模拟中尺度对流系统降水过程.研究发现不同的微物理方案模拟的对流云区液态含水量,冰水含量的垂直分布各不相同, 而模拟的层状云区液态含水量, 冰水含量的垂直分布结果相似. 总的来说与其他方案相比, Morrison 方案和集合平均的结果最接近观测值.我们也注意到在一些区域, 所有成员均高估了液态含水量 2–8 倍, 这也导致了在这些区域集合平均值与观测相比仍然有很大的差距.