Parameterization of Dry Thermals and Shallow Cumuli for Mesoscale Numerical Weather Prediction

• Published in: Boundary-layer meteorology 2009-07, Vol.132 (1), p.83-106
• Main Authors: Pergaud, Julien, Masson, Valéry, Malardel, Sylvie, Couvreux, Fleur
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atmospheric boundary layer; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Atmospheric Sciences; Boundary layer; Boundary layers; Buoyancy; Cloud cover; Clouds; Detrainment; Drying; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Entrainment; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Fluctuations; Flux; Marine; Mass flux; Mathematical analysis; Mathematical models; Meteorology; Parameterization; Parametrization; Prediction models; Representations; Shallow convection; Turbulence; Weather analysis and prediction; Weather forecasting
• ISSN: 0006-8314; 1573-1472
• DOI: 10.1007/s10546-009-9388-0

For numerical weather prediction models and models resolving deep convection, shallow convective ascents are subgrid processes that are not parameterized by classical local turbulent schemes. The mass flux formulation of convective mixing is now largely accepted as an efficient approach for parameterizing the contribution of larger plumes in convective dry and cloudy boundary layers. We propose a new formulation of the EDMF scheme (for Eddy Diffusivity\Mass Flux) based on a single updraft that improves the representation of dry thermals and shallow convective clouds and conserves a correct representation of stratocumulus in mesoscale models. The definition of entrainment and detrainment in the dry part of the updraft is original, and is specified as proportional to the ratio of buoyancy to vertical velocity. In the cloudy part of the updraft, the classical buoyancy sorting approach is chosen. The main closure of the scheme is based on the mass flux near the surface, which is proportional to the sub-cloud layer convective velocity scale w *. The link with the prognostic grid-scale cloud content and cloud cover and the projection on the non- conservative variables is processed by the cloud scheme. The validation of this new formulation using large-eddy simulations focused on showing the robustness of the scheme to represent three different boundary layer regimes. For dry convective cases, this parameterization enables a correct representation of the countergradient zone where the mass flux part represents the top entrainment (IHOP case). It can also handle the diurnal cycle of boundary-layer cumulus clouds (EUROCS\ARM) and conserve a realistic evolution of stratocumulus (EUROCS\FIRE).