Comparison of Evaporation and Cold Pool Development between Single-Moment and Multimoment Bulk Microphysics Schemes in Idealized Simulations of Tornadic Thunderstorms

• Published in: Monthly weather review 2010-04, Vol.138 (4), p.1152-1171
• Main Authors: DAWSON, Daniel T, MING XUE, MILBRANDT, Jason A, YAU, M. K
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cold; Cold pools; Data simulation; Downdraft; Drop size; Drop size distribution; Earth, ocean, space; Evaporation; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Hydrometeors; Meteorology; Microphysics; Observational studies; Parameterization; Parametrization; Pools; Precipitation; Rain; Rainfall forecasting; Reflectance; Sedimentation & deposition; Simulation; Size distribution; Sorting; Storms; Studies; Supercells; Thunderstorms; Tornadoes; Water in the atmosphere (humidity, clouds, evaporation, precipitation); Work platforms
• ISSN: 0027-0644; 1520-0493
• DOI: 10.1175/2009mwr2956.1

Idealized simulations of the 3 May 1999 Oklahoma tornadic supercell storms are conducted at various horizontal grid spacings ranging from 1 km to 250 m, using a sounding extracted from a prior 3-km grid spacing real-data simulation. A sophisticated multimoment bulk microphysics parameterization scheme capable of predicting up to three moments of the particle or drop size distribution (DSD) for several liquid and ice hydrometeor species is evaluated and compared with traditional single-moment schemes. The emphasis is placed on the impact of microphysics, specifically rain evaporation and size sorting, on cold pool strength and structure, and on the overall reflectivity structure of the simulated storms. It is shown through microphysics budget analyses and examination of specific processes within the low-level downdraft regions that the multimoment scheme has important advantages, which lead to a weaker and smaller cold pool and better reflectivity structure, particularly in the forward-flank region of the simulated supercells. Specifically, the improved treatment of evaporation and size sorting, and their effects on the predicted rain DSDs by the multimoment scheme helps to control the cold bias often found in the simulations using typical single-moment schemes. The multimoment results are more consistent with observed (from both fixed and mobile mesonet platforms) thermodynamic conditions within the cold pools of the discrete supercells of the 3 May 1999 outbreak.