Advanced Surface Flux Parameterization

Author(s):  
Shouping Wang ◽  
James Doyle ◽  
Qing Wang
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mien-Tze Kueh ◽  
Wen-Mei Chen ◽  
Yang-Fan Sheng ◽  
Simon C. Lin ◽  
Tso-Ren Wu ◽  
...  

Abstract. This study investigates the impacts of horizontal resolution and surface flux formulas on typhoon intensity and structure simulations through the case study of the Super Typhoon Haiyan (2013). Three different sets of surface flux formulas in the Weather Research and Forecasting Model were tested using grid spacing of 1, 3, and 6 km. Both increased resolution and more reasonable surface flux formulas can improve typhoon intensity simulation, but their impacts on storm structures are different. A combination of decrease in momentum transfer coefficient and increase in enthalpy transfer coefficients has greater potential to yield stronger storm. This positive effect of more reasonable surface flux formulas can be efficiently enhanced when the grid spacing is appropriately reduced to yield intense and contracted eyewall structure. As resolution increases, the eyewall becomes more upright and contracted inward. The size of updraft cores in the eyewall shrinks and the region of downdraft increases; both updraft and downdraft become more intense. As a result, the enhanced convective cores within the eyewall are driven by more intense updrafts within a rather small fraction of spatial area. This contraction of eyewall is associated with an upper level warming process, which may be partly attributed to air detrained from the intense convective cores. This resolution dependence of spatial scale of updrafts is related to the model effective resolution as determined by grid spacing.


2003 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kun Yang ◽  
Toshio Koike ◽  
Dawen Yang

2013 ◽  
Vol 141 (7) ◽  
pp. 2308-2324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin W. Green ◽  
Fuqing Zhang

Abstract Fluxes of momentum and moist enthalpy across the air–sea interface are believed to be one of the most important factors in determining tropical cyclone intensity. Because these surface fluxes cannot be directly resolved by numerical weather prediction models, their impacts on tropical cyclones must be accounted for through subgrid-scale parameterizations. There are several air–sea surface flux parameterization schemes available in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model; these schemes differ from one another in their formulations of the wind speed–dependent exchange coefficients of momentum, sensible heat, and moisture (latent heat). The effects of surface fluxes on the intensity and structure of tropical cyclones are examined through convection-permitting WRF simulations of Hurricane Katrina (2005). It is found that the intensity (and, to a lesser extent, structure) of the simulated storms is sensitive to the choice of surface flux parameterization scheme. In agreement with recent studies, the drag coefficient CD is found to affect the pressure–wind relationship (between minimum sea level pressure and maximum 10-m wind speed) and to change the radius of maximum near-surface winds of the tropical cyclone. Fluxes of sensible and latent heat (i.e., moist enthalpy) affect intensity but do not significantly change the pressure–wind relationship. Additionally, when low-level winds are strong, the contribution of dissipative heating to calculations of sensible heat flux is not negligible. Expanding the sensitivity tests to several dozen cases from the 2008 to 2011 Atlantic hurricane seasons demonstrates the robustness of these findings.


2013 ◽  
Vol 141 (2) ◽  
pp. 773-797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gang Liu ◽  
Yangang Liu ◽  
Satoshi Endo

Abstract Surface momentum, sensible heat, and latent heat fluxes are critical for atmospheric processes such as clouds and precipitation, and are parameterized in a variety of models ranging from cloud-resolving models to large-scale weather and climate models. However, direct evaluation of the parameterization schemes for these surface fluxes is rare due to limited observations. This study takes advantage of the long-term observations of surface fluxes collected at the Southern Great Plains site by the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program to evaluate the six surface flux parameterization schemes commonly used in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and three U.S. general circulation models (GCMs). The unprecedented 7-yr-long measurements by the eddy correlation (EC) and energy balance Bowen ratio (EBBR) methods permit statistical evaluation of all six parameterizations under a variety of stability conditions, diurnal cycles, and seasonal variations. The statistical analyses show that the momentum flux parameterization agrees best with the EC observations, followed by latent heat flux, sensible heat flux, and evaporation ratio/Bowen ratio. The overall performance of the parameterizations depends on atmospheric stability, being best under neutral stratification and deteriorating toward both more stable and more unstable conditions. Further diagnostic analysis reveals that in addition to the parameterization schemes themselves, the discrepancies between observed and parameterized sensible and latent heat fluxes may stem from inadequate use of input variables such as surface temperature, moisture availability, and roughness length. The results demonstrate the need for improving the land surface models and measurements of surface properties, which would permit the evaluation of full land surface models.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 1509-1539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mien-Tze Kueh ◽  
Wen-Mei Chen ◽  
Yang-Fan Sheng ◽  
Simon C. Lin ◽  
Tso-Ren Wu ◽  
...  

Abstract. This study investigates the effects of horizontal resolution and surface flux formulas on typhoon intensity and structure simulations through the case study of the Super Typhoon Haiyan (2013). Three sets of surface flux formulas in the Weather Research and Forecasting Model were tested using grid spacings of 1, 3, and 6 km. Increased resolution and more reasonable surface flux formulas can both improve typhoon intensity simulation, but their effects on storm structures differ. A combination of a decrease in momentum transfer coefficient and an increase in enthalpy transfer coefficients has greater potential to yield a stronger storm. This positive effect of more reasonable surface flux formulas can be efficiently enhanced when the grid spacing is appropriately reduced to yield an intense and contracted eyewall structure. As the resolution increases, the eyewall becomes more upright and contracts inward. The size of updraft cores in the eyewall shrinks, and the region of downdraft increases; both updraft and downdraft become more intense. As a result, the enhanced convective cores within the eyewall are driven by more intense updrafts within a rather small fraction of the spatial area. This contraction of the eyewall is associated with an upper-level warming process, which may be partly attributed to air detrained from the intense convective cores. This resolution dependence of spatial scale of updrafts is related to the model effective resolution as determined by grid spacing.


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