loading page

Mesoscale Convective Systems tracking Method Intercomparison (MCSMIP): Application to DYAMOND Global km-scale Simulations
  • +15
  • Zhe Feng,
  • Andreas Franz Prein,
  • Julia Kukulies,
  • Thomas Fiolleau,
  • William Kenneth Jones,
  • Ben Maybee,
  • Zachary Moon,
  • Kelly M. Núñez Ocasio,
  • Wenhao Dong,
  • Maria J. Molina,
  • Mary Grace Albright,
  • Ran Feng,
  • Jinyan Song,
  • Fengfei Song,
  • L. Ruby Leung,
  • Adam Varble,
  • Cornelia Klein,
  • Rémy Roca
Zhe Feng
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (DOE)

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile
Andreas Franz Prein
National Center for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
Author Profile
Julia Kukulies
National Center for Atmospheric Research
Author Profile
Thomas Fiolleau
French National Centre for Scientific Research
Author Profile
William Kenneth Jones
University of Oxford
Author Profile
Ben Maybee
University of Leeds
Author Profile
Zachary Moon
NOAA Air Resources Laboratory
Author Profile
Kelly M. Núñez Ocasio
NCAR
Author Profile
Wenhao Dong
NOAA/Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
Author Profile
Maria J. Molina
University of Maryland, College Park
Author Profile
Mary Grace Albright
University of Connecticut
Author Profile
Ran Feng
University of Connecticut
Author Profile
Jinyan Song
Ocean University of China
Author Profile
Fengfei Song
Ocean University of China
Author Profile
L. Ruby Leung
PNNL
Author Profile
Adam Varble
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Author Profile
Cornelia Klein
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH)
Author Profile
Rémy Roca
CNRS
Author Profile

Abstract

Global kilometer-scale models are the future of Earth system models as they can explicitly simulate organized convective storms and their associated extreme weather. Here, we comprehensively examined tropical mesoscale convective system (MCS) characteristics in the DYAMOND (DYnamics of the atmospheric general circulation modeled on non-hydrostatic domains) models for both summer and winter phases by applying eight different feature trackers to the simulations and satellite observations. Although different trackers produce substantial differences (a factor of 2-3) in observed MCS frequency and their contribution to total precipitation, model-observation differences in MCS statistics are more consistent among the trackers. DYAMOND models are generally skillful in simulating tropical mean MCS frequency, with multi-model mean biases of 2.9% over land and -0.5% over ocean. However, most models underestimate the MCS precipitation amount (23%) and their contribution to total precipitation (17%) relative to observations. These biases show large inter-model variability, but are generally smaller over land (13%) than over ocean (21%) on average. MCS diurnal cycle and cloud shield characteristics are better simulated than precipitation. Most models overestimate MCS precipitation intensity and underestimate stratiform rain contribution (up to a factor of 2), particularly over land. Models also predict a wide range of precipitable water in the tropics compared to reanalysis and satellite observations, and many models simulate a greater sensitivity of MCS precipitation intensity to precipitable water. The MCS metrics developed in this work provide process-oriented diagnostics for future model development efforts.
15 Aug 2024Submitted to ESS Open Archive
19 Aug 2024Published in ESS Open Archive