uintah basin wrf testing

Uintah Basin WRF Testing

Erik Neemann20 Sep 2013

Overview

- Description of WRF Setup & Microphysics edits- Explanation of WRF edits- Reasoning for Microphysics edits- General Results- Examples of simulation differences- Errors, Time Series plots, & Vertical profiles- Conclusions

Summary of Recent WRF Testing & Modifications

- Idealized snow cover in Uintah Basin and mountains- Initialized colder skin temperature in the Uintah Basin- Updated land use data to NLCD 2006- Modified VEGPARM.TBL- Snow albedo changes- Edited relative humidity in NAM input files- Microphysics modifications (Thompson)

- Changes to homogeneous freezing temperature- Changes to ice nucleation temperature- Turning off cloud ice sedimentation- Turning off cloud ice autoconversion to snow

17 cm 22 to 28 cm(overestimation inside Uintah Basin)

Idealized snow cover in Uintah Basin and mountains

- Elevation-dependent snow cover above 2380 m (17 cm to 1 m above 2900 m)- Uniform snow in basin (17 cm depth, 21.25 kg/m3 SWE, 8:1 ratio)

00Z 1 Feb 2013Domain 3 Modified Snow Cover

00Z 1 Feb 2013NAM Analysis Snow Cover

Initialized colder skin temperature in Uintah Basin

- Initialized skin temperature to 262 K in the basin (below 2380 m)

00Z 1 Feb 2013Modified Skin Temperaure

00Z 1 Feb 2013NAM Analysis Skin Temperature

262 K267 to 268 K

Updated Land Use data

- Updated land use data to NLCD 2006 (1 arc-second)- Uintah Basin primary “shrubland” and “cropland/grassland mosaic”

- “Barren or sparsely vegetated”, “grassland”, and “irrigated cropland & pasture” significantly decreased

262 K267 to 268 K

New NLCD 2006 dataOld USGS Land Use data

More urban categories

Changes in Uintah Basin

Modified VEGPARM.TBL

- Modified VEGPARM.TBL “SNUP” to 0.02 for vegetation categories 5 & 8 (cropland/grassland mosaic & shrubland)- Allows 2 cm of SWE (20 kg/m3) to “cover up” vegetation with snow- Enables albedo to attain “max snow albedo”, instead of combination of snow

albedo and vegetation albedo

Changed from .04 to .02

Changed from .03 to .02

0.820.76

0.72

0.76

Snow Albedo changes

- Combination of VEGPARM.TBL and snow albedo edits achieved desire albedos- Set snow albedo to 0.82 within the basin (below 2380 m)- Set snow albedo to 0.71 outside the basin within domain 2

New snow albedo edits(0.82 in Basin, 0.71 outer box)

Original snow albedo edits(0.71 everywhere)

*Note: color scale are different

Edited RH in NAM input files

- Crudely subtracted 5, 20, or 40% from RH in NAM input files- Reduced RH by fraction if already very low to prevent negative values

00Z 1 Feb 2013Edited NAM RH reduced 20 %

00Z 1 Feb 2013Original NAM RH

Edited RH in NAM input files - Integrated clouds hydrometeors

- Reduced RH decreased clouds earlier in simulation (1-2 days)- All simulations converged on very similar cloudy solution after first couple days

Thompson 1.33km Thompson 4km RH-5% Thompson 4km RH-20%

15Z 1 Feb 2013

15Z 5 Feb 2013

Reasoning for Microphysics Modifications

- Several modification were made to Thompson microphysics schemes:- Changes to homogeneous freezing temperature (HGFR) from 235 to 271 K

- Desired effect of changing liquid clouds to ice clouds- Changes to ice nucleation temperature from -12 to range of -3 to -15 C

- Desired same effect as changing homogeneous freezing temperature, but more physically realistic

- Turning off cloud ice sedimentation- Effort to prevent cloud ice from “falling out” of cloud

- Turning off cloud ice autoconversion to snow- Effort to maintain cloud ice by preventing it’s conversion into snow

category and precipitating out of cloud

- Modifications were conducted in various combinations to determine impact on model simulations

- In final tests, modifications were then only allowed in lowest 15 model levels (~500 m), while everything above was unchanged- Effort to create more realistic simulation by only changing low levels

General Results of Microphysics Modifications

- Combination of edits seemed to converge on 3 solutions:

1 - “clear sky” solution with very little cloud ice and negligible LW radiation- Simulations where ice clouds were created and:

- Ice autoconversion to snow was ON- Autoconversion OFF, but sedimentation of cloud ice ON

2 - “thick ice cloud” solution with moderate LW radiation- Simulations where ice clouds were created and:

- Both autoconversion and sedimentation were OFF

3 - “thick liquid cloud” solution with strong LW radiation when:- No microphysics edits- Simulations where ice clouds were created via ice nucleation:

- Either sedimentation or autoconversion was ON

Integrated CloudsTIAU0 09Z 3 Feb 2013

TIAU0

TS20IAU0

Cloud Ice bottom 10 levels

TS20IAU0

Microphysics Modifications - Cloud Ice sedimentation

Microphysics Modifications - Sedimentation and Autoconversion

Sedimentation OFF,Autoconversion ON WSM3 Microphysics

Sedimentation OFF,Autoconversion OFF

Sedimentation OFF,20% Autoconversion

Sedimentation OFF,5% Autoconversion

Sedimentation ON,Autoconversion OFF

Cloud ice bottom 10 levels - 4 Feb 2013 06Z

Effect of Sedimentation on 2m Temps, Clouds, LW Radiation

2m Temps Integrated Clouds06Z 4 Feb 2013

LW Radiation at sfc

2m Temps Integrated Clouds LW Radiation at sfc

TIN3IAU0 - Ice sedimentation OFF

TSIN3IAU0 - Ice sedimentation ON

Sedimentation - Average cloud ice & cloud water bottom 10 levels

TIN3IAU0- Ice sedimentation OFF

Cloud Ice06Z 4 Feb 2013

TSIN3IAU0- Ice sedimentation ON

Cloud Water

Cloud Ice Cloud Water

Uintah Basin CAP Simulation 1-6 Feb 2013Distribution of cloud ice with and without

sedimentation

QSNOW 6.6x10-3

QICE 5.6x10-4

TIN3IAU0 TSIN3IAU0

- Allowing cloud ice sedimentation in low levels resulted in a liquid-phase dominated cloud

- Both cases had essentially identical results above 2-3 km

QCLOUD 0.045 g/kgQICE 0.11 g/kg

Mean Errors:Original Thomp 4km = 3.5576 CWSM3 0.82 alb 4km = 1.9254 CThomp RH-40%, 0.82 alb = 2.9908 CThomp 300 CCN 0.82 alb = 1.3055 CThomp ice, fall speed zero = 3.0842 CThomp ice, FS=0, 300 CCN, alb = -0.75 C

Uintah Basin CAP Simulation 1-6 Feb 2013

“thick liquid cloud”

“thick ice cloud”“clear sky”

Mean Abs Errors:Original Thomp 4km = 3.9772 CWSM3 0.82 alb 4km = 2.5456 CThomp RH-40%, 0.82 alb = 2.6232 CThomp 300 CCN 0.82 alb = 3.1315 CThomp ice, fall speed zero = 3.4003 CThomp ice, FS=0, 300 CCN, alb = 3.9772 C


RMSE:Original Thomp 4km = 4.7447 CWSM3 0.82 alb 4km = 3.1065 CThomp RH-40%, 0.82 alb = 3.2344 CThomp 300 CCN 0.82 alb = 3.8061 CThomp ice, fall speed zero = 3.9650 CThomp ice, FS=0, 300 CCN, alb = 2.5162 C


Run Mean Error (deg C) Mean Abs Error (deg C) RMSE (deg C)TSIAU0 4km Thomp, sed, 100 CCN, IAU0, 0.82 alb -0.7028 1.9853 2.4882 0.667578TIAU5 4km Thomp, FS0, 100 CCN, IAU 5% -0.7682 1.9971 2.5152 0.610222TFS1000A 4km Thomp, FS0, 1000 CCN, 0.82 alb -0.7498 1.9960 2.5158 0.773771TFSCA 4km Thomp, FS0, 300 CCN, 0.82 alb -0.7500 1.9946 2.5162 0.774392TIAU20 4km Thomp, FS0, 100 CCN, IAU 20% -0.7532 1.9999 2.5177 0.771226TIAU0 4km Thomp, FS0, 100 CCN, IAU0, 0.82 alb 0.3050 2.1935 2.7514 0.486928TS20IAU0 4km Thomp, FS abv 20, IAU0, 0.82 alb -0.0948 2.2512 2.8049 0.78427TIN3IAU0 4km Thomp IN-3, FS0, IAU0 (bot 15) 0.0125 2.3295 2.8822 0.840412WSM3A 4km WSM3 Albedo 0.82 1.9254 2.5456 3.1065 0.427977TRH40A 4km Thomp RH-40% & 0.82 alb 0.3347 2.6232 3.2344 0.0546734WSM3_d02 4km WSM3 2.5078 2.9248 3.5135 0.521877WSM3_d03 1.3km WSM3 2.8029 3.0661 3.6241 0.869439TIN3 4km Thomp IN-3, FS0 (bot 15) 1.1475 3.0662 3.7261 0.0958929TSIN3 4km Thomp IN-3, sed all levs 1.1761 3.0716 3.7338 0.0802748TSIN3IAU0 4km Thomp IN-3, sed all levs, IAU0 (bot 15) 1.1987 3.0800 3.7457 0.0719872T100A 4km Thomp, 100 CCN, 0.82 alb 1.2367 3.0875 3.7550 0.0631214TAC 4km Thomp, 300 CCN, 0.82 alb 1.3055 3.1315 3.8061 0.0687979T1000A 4km Thomp, 1000 CCN, 0.82 alb 1.3415 3.1395 3.8213 0.0719154TFS0 4km T271 Fall Speed 0 3.0842 3.4003 3.9650 0.39035T271 4km Thompson 271 3.0828 3.3967 3.9697 0.396135TRH40 4km Thomp RH-40% 2.9908 3.5206 4.2393 0.0139123TRH20 4km Thomp RH-20% 3.2254 3.7089 4.4401 0.236866Morr 4km Morrison 3.4841 3.8699 4.5975 0v1_d03 1.3km Thompson 3.3858 3.8293 4.6104 0.130138v1_d02 4km Thompson 3.5576 3.9772 4.7447 0.030682TNOD 4km Thomp No Diffusion 3.4127 4.0453 4.8911 0.147985

2m Temperature Errors for all runs and accumulated snow at OurayRun Mean Error (deg C) Mean Abs Error (deg C)4km Thomp FS0, 300 CCN, 0.82 alb -0.75 2.1595 0.7743924km Thomp FS0, 1000 CCN, 0.82 alb -0.7498 2.1626 0.7737714km WSM3 Albedo 0.82 1.9254 2.3177 0.4279774km Thomp RH-40% & 0.82 alb 0.3347 2.5226 0.05467344km WSM3 2.5078 2.5948 0.5218771.3km WSM3 2.8029 2.8408 0.8694394km Thomp, 100 CCN, 0.82 alb 1.2367 2.9096 0.06312144km Thomp, 1000 CCN, 0.82 alb 1.3415 2.9561 0.07191544km Thomp, 300 CCN, 0.82 alb 1.3055 2.9572 0.06879794km Thompson 271 3.0828 3.031 0.3961354km T271 Fall Speed 0 3.0842 3.0337 0.390354km Thomp RH-40% 2.9908 3.0928 0.01391234km Thomp RH-20% 3.2254 3.2893 0.2368664km Morrison 3.4841 3.4915 01.3km Thompson 3.3858 3.5548 0.1301384km Thompson 3.5576 3.5963 0.0306824km Thomp No Diffusion 3.4127 3.7604 0.147985

Run Mean Error (deg C) Mean Abs Error (deg C)4km Thomp FS0, 300 CCN, 0.82 alb -0.75 2.1595 0.7743924km Thomp FS0, 1000 CCN, 0.82 alb -0.7498 2.1626 0.7737714km WSM3 Albedo 0.82 1.9254 2.3177 0.4279774km Thomp RH-40% & 0.82 alb 0.3347 2.5226 0.05467344km WSM3 2.5078 2.5948 0.5218771.3km WSM3 2.8029 2.8408 0.8694394km Thomp, 100 CCN, 0.82 alb 1.2367 2.9096 0.06312144km Thomp, 1000 CCN, 0.82 alb 1.3415 2.9561 0.07191544km Thomp, 300 CCN, 0.82 alb 1.3055 2.9572 0.06879794km Thompson 271 3.0828 3.031 0.3961354km T271 Fall Speed 0 3.0842 3.0337 0.390354km Thomp RH-40% 2.9908 3.0928 0.01391234km Thomp RH-20% 3.2254 3.2893 0.2368664km Morrison 3.4841 3.4915 01.3km Thompson 3.3858 3.5548 0.1301384km Thompson 3.5576 3.5963 0.0306824km Thomp No Diffusion 3.4127 3.7604 0.147985




Thompson runs with HGFR temp = 271.15

WSM3 runs

Thompson runs with reduced RH in boundary conditions

No tweaks to microphysics (Thompson & Morrison)

Thompson runs with different cloud droplet concentrations

Thompson runs with ice nucleation changes in bottom 15 model levels

1 Feb 2013 2 Feb 2013 3 Feb 2013

4 Feb 2013 5 Feb 2013 6 Feb 2013

18Z Roosevelt

1 Feb 2013 2 Feb 2013 3 Feb 2013

4 Feb 2013 5 Feb 2013 6 Feb 2013

12Z Horsepool

1 Feb 2013 2 Feb 2013 3 Feb 2013

4 Feb 2013 5 Feb 2013 6 Feb 2013

12Z Ouray

1 Feb 2013 2 Feb 2013 3 Feb 2013

4 Feb 2013 5 Feb 2013 6 Feb 2013

12Z Red Wash

Conclusions

- Preferred WRF run and edits (TIN12IAU0)- Include idealized snow cover, albedo, skin temperature, updated land

use, and edited VEGPARM.TBL- Do not edit RH in NAM initialization/boundary condition files- Only make microphysics edits in lowest 15 model levels- Leave ice nucleation at default temperature of -12 C- Turn off autoconversion and sedimentation in bottom 15 model levels

- Preferred setup results in:- Ice-phase clouds in place of original liquid-phase cloud- Colder surface temperatures with smaller errors/bias- More physically representative radiative properties of ice-phase cloud- Shallower PBL that more closely matches observed soundings

uintah basin wrf testing

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