Role of land-surface temperature feedback on model performance for the stable boundary layer

At present a variety of boundary-layer schemes is in use in numerical models and often a large variation of model results is found. This is clear from model intercomparisons, such as organized within the GEWEX Atmospheric Boundary Layer Study (GABLS). In this paper we analyze how the specification of the land-surface temperature affects the results of a boundary-layer scheme, in particular for stable conditions. As such we use a well established column model of the boundary layer and we vary relevant parameters in the turbulence scheme for stable conditions. By doing so, we can reproduce the outcome for a variety of boundary-layer models. This is illustrated with the original set-up of the second GABLS intercomparison study using prescribed geostrophic winds and land-surface temperatures as inspired by (but not identical to) observations of CASES-99 for a period of more than two diurnal cycles. The model runs are repeated using a surface temperature that is calculated with a simple land-surface scheme. In the latter case, it is found that the range of model results in stable conditions is reduced for the sensible heat fluxes, and the profiles of potential temperature and wind speed. However, in the latter case the modelled surface temperatures are rather different than with the original set-up, which also impacts on near-surface air temperature and wind speed. As such it appears that the model results in stable conditions are strongly influenced by non-linear feedbacks in which the magnitude of the geostrophic wind speed and the related land-surface temperature play an important role.     

Simulation of monsoon boundary-layer processes using a regional scale nested grid model

A nested grid regional model with a high vertical resolution in the atmospheric boundary layer is used to simulate various atmospheric processes during an active monsoon period. A turbulence kinetic energy closure scheme is used to predict the boundary-layer structure. Model predictions indicate different structures of the boundary layer over land and oceans, as observed. Significant diurnal variation in boundary-layer structure and associated processes is predicted over land and negligible variations over oceans. The Somali jet over the Arabian Sea is well predicted. Location of the predicted monsoon depression and the associated rainfall are in good agreement with the observations. Also, predicted rainfall and its spatial distribution along the west coast of India are in good agreement with the observations.     

Simulation of a Stably Stratified Atmospheric Boundary Layer Using One-Dimensional Turbulence

One-dimensional turbulence (ODT) is a single-column simulation in which vertical motions are represented by an unsteady advective process, rather than their customary representation by a diffusive process. No space or time averaging of mesh-resolved motions is invoked. Molecular-transport scales can be resolved in ODT simulations of laboratory-scale flows, but this resolution of these scales is prohibitively expensive in ODT simulations of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), except possibly in small subregions of a non-uniform mesh.Here, two methods for ODT simulation of the ABL on uniform meshes are described and applied to the GABLS (GEWEX Atmospheric Boundary Layer Study; GEWEX is the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment) stable boundary-layer intercomparison case. One method involves resolution of the roughness scale using a fixed eddy viscosity to represent subgrid motions. The other method, which is implemented at lower spatial resolution, involves a variable eddy viscosity determined by the local mesh-resolved flow, as in multi-dimensional large-eddy simulation (LES). When run at typical LES resolution, it reproduces some of the key high-resolution results, but its fidelity is lower in some important respects. It is concluded that a more elaborate empirically based representation of the subgrid physics, closely analogous to closures currently employed in LES of the ABL, might improve its performance substantially, yielding a cost-effective ABL simulation tool. Prospects for further application of ODT to the ABL, including possible use of ODT as a near-surface subgrid closure framework for general circulation modeling, are assessed.     

Analysis of Model Results for the Turning of the Wind and Related Momentum Fluxes in the Stable Boundary Layer

The turning of wind with height and the related cross-isobaric (ageostrophic) flow in the thermally stable stratified boundary layer is analysed from a variety of model results acquired in the first Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Atmospheric Boundary Layer Study (GABLS1). From the governing equations in this particular simple case it becomes clear that the cross-isobaric flow is solely determined by the surface turbulent stress in the direction of the geostrophic wind for the quasi-steady state conditions under consideration. Most models indeed seem to approach this relationship but for very different absolute values. Because turbulence closures used in operational models typically tend to give too deep a boundary layer, the integrated total cross-isobaric mass flux is up to three times that given by research numerical models and large-eddy simulation. In addition, the angle between the surface and the geostrophic wind is typically too low, which has important implications for the representation of the larger-scale flow. It appears that some models provide inconsistent results for the surface angle and the momentum flux profile, and when the results from these models are removed from the analysis, the remaining ten models do show a unique relationship between the boundary-layer depth and the surface angle, consistent with the theory given. The present results also imply that it is beneficial to locate the first model level rather close to the surface for a proper representation of the turning of wind with height in the stable boundary layer.     

Evaluation of the Diurnal Cycle in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Over Land as Represented by a Variety of Single-Column Models: The Second GABLS Experiment

We present the main results from the second model intercomparison within the GEWEX (Global Energy and Water cycle EXperiment) Atmospheric Boundary Layer Study (GABLS). The target is to examine the diurnal cycle over land in today??s numerical weather prediction and climate models for operational and research purposes. The set-up of the case is based on observations taken during the Cooperative Atmosphere-Surface Exchange Study-1999 (CASES-99), which was held in Kansas, USA in the early autumn with a strong diurnal cycle with no clouds present. The models are forced with a constant geostrophic wind, prescribed surface temperature and large-scale divergence. Results from 30 different model simulations and one large-eddy simulation (LES) are analyzed and compared with observations. Even though the surface temperature is prescribed, the models give variable near-surface air temperatures. This, in turn, gives rise to differences in low-level stability affecting the turbulence and the turbulent heat fluxes. The increase in modelled upward sensible heat flux during the morning transition is typically too weak and the growth of the convective boundary layer before noon is too slow. This is related to weak modelled near-surface winds during the morning hours. The agreement between the models, the LES and observations is the best during the late afternoon. From this intercomparison study, we find that modelling the diurnal cycle is still a big challenge. For the convective part of the diurnal cycle, some of the first-order schemes perform somewhat better while the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) schemes tend to be slightly better during nighttime conditions. Finer vertical resolution tends to improve results to some extent, but is certainly not the solution to all the deficiencies identified.     

Application of the E-ε closure model to simulations of mesoscale topographic effects

A mesoscale Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) model with a simple turbulence closure scheme based on the turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) equation and the dissipation () equation is used to simulate atmospheric flow over mesoscale topography. Comparative studies with different parameterizations suggest that with a proper closure assumption for turbulence dissipation, the E-model can simulate the circulation induced by the mesoscale topography with results similar to those obtained using the E- model. On the other hand, the first-order closure using O'Brien's cubic interpolation for eddy diffusivities (K) generally produces much larger K profiles in the stable and the unstable regions, which is believed to be due to the overprediction of the height of the PBL. All models with the TKE equation yield quite similar ensemble mean fields, which are found to be little sensitive to the closure assumption for turbulence dissipation, though their predicted magnitudes of TKE and K may differ appreciably. A discussion on the diurnal evolution of the mesoscale topography-induced circulation and the spatial variations of the turbulence fluxes in the surface layer is also given based on the E- model results.     

Diurnal cycle of precipitation over the Maritime Continent simulated by a spectral cumulus parameterization

The validity of a spectral cumulus parameterization (spectral scheme) for simulating a diurnal cycle of precipitation over the Maritime Continent (MC) was examined using a regional atmospheric model. The impacts of entrainment parameterization and each type of convective closure, i.e., non-equilibrium (or equilibrium) closure for deep convection, mid-level, and shallow convective closures, were also examined. When vertically variable entrainment and appropriate convective closures were employed, the model adequately simulated a diurnal cycle of precipitation over both land and ocean as compared to the observation. Analysis regarding the entrainment parameterization revealed that variable entrainment parameterization was needed not only for simulating better mean patterns of precipitation, but also for more realistic phases of diurnal cycles. The impacts of convective closures appeared in the differences in the precipitation amplitude. Analysis on diurnal cycles of convective properties and tendencies revealed that the cycles between boundary layer forcing and convective heating determined convection strength and were affected by each type of convective closure. It can be concluded that the spectral scheme with appropriate convective closures is able to simulate a realistic diurnal cycle over the MC.     

湍流动能闭合方法在区域气候模式中的应用

利用湍流动能闭合方法改进了区域气候模式（ＲｅｇＣＭ２）中边界层的参数化过程,并用资料进行了数值试验。结果表明．采用该方法可以较好地描述边界层的物理过程,温度、位势高度、比湿等物理量场的模拟均有不同程度的改善,提高了边界层计算的精度。该工作还对模式中边界层高度的计算作了改进,使边界层高度的日变化及高度极值都更符合实际情况。     

Evaluation of the Weather Research and Forecast/Urban Model Over Greater Paris

Meteorological modelling in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) over Greater Paris is performed using the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) numerical model. The simulated meteorological fields are evaluated by comparison with mean diurnal observational data or mean vertical profiles of temperature, wind speed, humidity and boundary-layer height from 6 to 27 May 2005. Different PBL schemes, which parametrize the atmospheric turbulence in the PBL using different turbulence closure schemes, may be used in the WRF model. The sensitivity of the results to four PBL schemes (two non-local closure schemes and two local closure schemes) is estimated. Uncertainties in the PBL schemes are compared to the influence of the urban canopy model (UCM) and the updated Coordination of Information on the Environment (CORINE) land-use data. Using the UCM and the CORINE land-use data produces more realistic modelled meteorological fields. The wind speed, which is overestimated in the simulations without the UCM, is improved below 1,000 m height. Furthermore, the modelled PBL heights during nighttime are strongly modified, with an increase that may be as high as 200 %. At night, the impact of changing the PBL scheme is lower than the impact of using the UCM and the CORINE land-use data.     

A bulk model of the well-mixed boundary layer

A bulk boundary-layer model is developed to predict surface fluxes and conditions in the well-mixed layer between the surface and the lower troposphere. The model includes the effects of all the dominant processes, including advection, in a dry boundary layer. The numerical model is compared with theoretical predictions for the growth of an internal boundary layer, and it is used to simulate the generation of a sea breeze by the diurnal cycle of radiative heating.     

Impact of the Diurnal Cycle of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer on Wind-Turbine Wakes: A Numerical Modelling Study

The wake characteristics of a wind turbine for different regimes occurring throughout the diurnal cycle are investigated systematically by means of large-eddy simulation. Idealized diurnal cycle simulations of the atmospheric boundary layer are performed with the geophysical flow solver EULAG over both homogeneous and heterogeneous terrain. Under homogeneous conditions, the diurnal cycle significantly affects the low-level wind shear and atmospheric turbulence. A strong vertical wind shear and veering with height occur in the nocturnal stable boundary layer and in the morning boundary layer, whereas atmospheric turbulence is much larger in the convective boundary layer and in the evening boundary layer. The increased shear under heterogeneous conditions changes these wind characteristics, counteracting the formation of the night-time Ekman spiral. The convective, stable, evening, and morning regimes of the atmospheric boundary layer over a homogeneous surface as well as the convective and stable regimes over a heterogeneous surface are used to study the flow in a wind-turbine wake. Synchronized turbulent inflow data from the idealized atmospheric boundary-layer simulations with periodic horizontal boundary conditions are applied to the wind-turbine simulations with open streamwise boundary conditions. The resulting wake is strongly influenced by the stability of the atmosphere. In both cases, the flow in the wake recovers more rapidly under convective conditions during the day than under stable conditions at night. The simulated wakes produced for the night-time situation completely differ between heterogeneous and homogeneous surface conditions. The wake characteristics of the transitional periods are influenced by the flow regime prior to the transition. Furthermore, there are different wake deflections over the height of the rotor, which reflect the incoming wind direction.     

Simulation of meteorological fields over a land-water-land terrain and comparison with observations

A numerical two-dimensional-mesoscale model with a level 1.5 closure scheme for turbulence is described. The model is used to simulate the boundary layer over coastal complex terrain. Meteorological data available from the Øresund land-sea-land terrain experiment are used to study the performance of the model. The model could simulate generally observed complexities in the mean wind and temperature fields. Internal boundary layers over the water and land surfaces were identified by the height of lowest value in the turbulence kinetic energy profile and this showed good agreement with radiosonde (RS) observations.Some disagreements with the data were also noticed, especially near the surface. The wind speed was over-predicted. Attempts were made to improve the model performance by adopting different schemes for model initialisation. Results showed that initialisation with an early model start time and observed wind profile near the inflow boundary improved the performance. The wind speed over-prediction could be further minimised by using a more realistic objective initialisation scheme. The problem centred around the proper estimation of the turbulent diffusion coefficient K through the closure scheme. Despite using the most popular empirical relationships in the level 1.5 closure scheme, these differences persisted. While this needs further investigation, the present model can be used to supply wind fields for practical purposes such as air pollution calculations.     

Study On Development And Application Of A Regional Pbl Numerical Model

A regional scale (a few km to a few hundred km, minutes to days)planetary boundary layer (PBL) numerical model (RPBLM) has been successfully developed to simulateprecisely the boundary-layer three-dimensional characteristics. The RPBLM model with a high-resolutionnon-hydrostatic E - turbulence closure scheme has been applied to diagnose and prognosticate the PBL characteristicsover a complex underlying surface in the Hong Kong area of 60 km × 48 km. It is shown that the RPBLMmodel can be used to simulate the PBL characteristics including wind, temperature, water vapour andturbulence over such a complex underlying surface and that the simulated result is reasonably in agreementwith observations.     

A 3-dimensional nonhydrostatic dispersion modeling system for modeling of atmospheric transport and diffusion over coastal complex terrain in the Hongkong-Shenzhen area

Summary A dispersion modeling system consisting of a three-dimensional PBL model NHECM (non-hydrostaticE- closure model) and SLPTDM (seven-level puff transport and diffusion model) is developed to simulate the transport and dispersion of pollutant over coastal complex terrain. As an application of the system, the transport and dispersion of SO₂ released from an elevated point source are simulated during typical sea-land breeze circulation in the Hongkong-Shenzhen area of China. The NHECM provides time-varying, three-dimensional distributions of wind and turbulence fields to the SLPTDM. The NHECM predictions compare well with observational data. Reflection of both the ground and the mixing layer top and penetration of the mixing layer top are improved in the SLPTDM. Results obtained from the system indicate that temporal variation and nonuniformity of airflow and turbulence obviously affect the concentration distributions, especially during the sea-land breeze transition period. A diurnal cycle of the GLC (ground-level concentration) is discussed. The results are compared with those estimated using a Gaussian model. The study's results illustrate the complexity of the dispersion patterns due to diurnal effects and mesoscale circulations, and demonstrate the potential of the mesoscale atmospheric dispersion modeling system for studies of air quality in complex terrain.With 8 Figures     

Fronts and the boundary layer – some numerical studies

In this paper, we consider boundary-layer effects on atmospheric fronts. For this purpose we developed a dry, hydrostatic, two-dimensional numerical model with turbulence parameterized with the 1/2 -order eddy viscosity closure of Mellor and Yamada. In the surface layer we use Monin–Obukhov similarity and there is an interactive soil model to obtain lower boundary conditions for the atmospheric model. First, effects of turbulence are studied without thermal forcing at the surface and comparisons are made between inviscid and turbulent conditions. Sensitivity studies with respect to surface roughness are also performed. Subsequently we study effects of surface thermal forcing on fronts. The results show that, during summer, fronts display strong diurnal variation. Vertical velocities increase significantly during the day while gradients in temperature and vorticity across the front strengthen in the evening and at night. In winter the diurnal variation is much less pronounced. We attempt to find physical mechanisms responsible for such frontal behaviour and we compare our results with available observations.     

Towards Adaptive Grids for Atmospheric Boundary-Layer Simulations

We present a proof-of-concept for the adaptive mesh refinement method applied to atmospheric boundary-layer simulations. Such a method may form an attractive alternative to static grids for studies on atmospheric flows that have a high degree of scale separation in space and/or time. Examples include the diurnal cycle and a convective boundary layer capped by a strong inversion. For such cases, large-eddy simulations using regular grids often have to rely on a subgrid-scale closure for the most challenging regions in the spatial and/or temporal domain. Here we analyze a flow configuration that describes the growth and subsequent decay of a convective boundary layer using direct numerical simulation (DNS). We validate the obtained results and benchmark the performance of the adaptive solver against two runs using fixed regular grids. It appears that the adaptive-mesh algorithm is able to coarsen and refine the grid dynamically whilst maintaining an accurate solution. In particular, during the initial growth of the convective boundary layer a high resolution is required compared to the subsequent stage of decaying turbulence. More specifically, the number of grid cells varies by two orders of magnitude over the course of the simulation. For this specific DNS case, the adaptive solver was not yet more efficient than the more traditional solver that is dedicated to these types of flows. However, the overall analysis shows that the method has a clear potential for numerical investigations of the most challenging atmospheric cases.     

Diurnal cycles of precipitation over subtropical China in IPCC AR5 AMIP simulations

Atmospheric Intercomparison Project simulations of the summertime diurnal cycle of precipitation and low-level winds over subtropical China by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report models were evaluated. By analyzing the diurnal variation of convective and stratiform components, results confirmed that major biases in rainfall diurnal cycles over subtropical China are due to convection parameterization and further pointed to the diurnal variation of convective rainfall being closely related to the closure of the convective scheme. All models captured the early-morning peak of total rainfall over the East China Sea, but most models had problems in simulating diurnal rainfall variations over land areas of subtropical China. When total rainfall was divided into stratiform and convective rainfall, all models successfully simulated the diurnal variation of stratiform rainfall with a maximum in the early morning. The models, overestimating noon-time （nocturnal） total rainfall over land, generally simulated too much convective rainfall, which peaked close to noon （midnight）, sharing some similarities in the closures of their deep convection schemes. The better performance of the Meteorological Research Institute atmospherer. ocean coupled global climate model version 3 （MRI-CGCM3） is attributed to the well captured ratio of the two kinds of rainfall, but not diurnal variations of the two components. Therefore, a proper ratio of convective and stratiform rainfall to total rainfall is also important to improve simulated diurnal rainfall variation.     

Evaluation and model impacts of alternative boundary-layer height formulations

We study bulk formulations for the boundary-layer height which are currently in use for atmospheric modelling. The formulations are based on various forms of the Richardson number, and these are evaluated with Cabauw field data in stable conditions. Results for both a large-eddy simulation model and anE-ε turbulence closure model for neutral boundary layers are also utilised. An updated formulation is introduced, which combines the effects of shear in the outer region of the boundary layer with surface friction. The updated formulation has a better performance for neutral boundary layers with upper level stratification. The findings are illustrated with a single-column model for a case with relatively high winds over the tropical ocean including shallow cumulus convection, and for a case with fair weather over land. We also show that for stable conditions, the updated formulation performs better than estimates on the basis of surface friction alone.     

A moving grid finite-element model of the bulk properties of the atmospheric boundary layer

A moving-grid finite-element model has been developed to model numerically the vertically integrated properties of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) in one dimension. The model equations for mean wind velocity and potential temperature are combined with a surface energy budget and predictive equations for boundary-layer height to simulate both stable and unstable ABLs. The nodal position defining the top of the boundary layer is one of the model unknowns and is determined by boundary-layer dynamics. The finite-element method, being an integral method, has advantages of accurate representation of both bulk values and their vertical derivatives, the latter being essential properties of the nocturnal boundary layer. Compared with observations and results of other models, the present model predicts bulk properties very well while retaining a simple and economical form.Journal Paper No. J-12996 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa, Project No. 2779.