Intercomparison and Evaluation of MM5 and Meso-NH mesoscale models in the stable boundary layer

Atmospheric numerical models depend critically on realistic treatment of the lower boundary conditions. In strongly thermally-stratified conditions, turbulence may be very weak and the models may find it difficult to produce a good forecast near the surface. Under clear skies and for weak synoptic w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Boundary-layer meteorology 2008-07, Vol.128 (1), p.77-101
Main Authors: Bravo, M, Mira, T, Soler, M. R, Cuxart, J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atmospheric boundary layer
Atmospheric models
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Atmospheric Sciences
Boundary conditions
Boundary layers
Convection, turbulence, diffusion. Boundary layer structure and dynamics
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Geophysics. Techniques, methods, instrumentation and models
Kinetic energy
Kinetics
Mathematical models
Mesoscale models
Meteorology
Original Paper
Strong thermally- stratified conditions
Surface-layer parameterizations
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Summary:Atmospheric numerical models depend critically on realistic treatment of the lower boundary conditions. In strongly thermally-stratified conditions, turbulence may be very weak and the models may find it difficult to produce a good forecast near the surface. Under clear skies and for weak synoptic winds the determining factors are the turbulent kinetic energy and surface-layer parameterizations, which can be very different between models. Here, two state-of-the-art mesoscale models (MM5 and Meso-NH) are operated under exactly the same conditions for two different nights over the Duero basin in the Iberian Peninsula: one night with a well-defined synoptic wind and a second with practically no horizontal pressure gradient. The models are inter-compared and checked against available information, and their performances are evaluated.
ISSN:0006-8314
1573-1472
DOI:10.1007/s10546-008-9269-y