Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Simulations of a Cold Front by Cloud-Resolving, Limited-Area, and Large-Scale Models, and a Model Evaluation Using In Situ and Satellite Observations

B. F. Ryan CSIRO Atmospheric Research, Aspendale, Victoria, Australia

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J. J. Katzfey CSIRO Atmospheric Research, Aspendale, Victoria, Australia

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D. J. Abbs CSIRO Atmospheric Research, Aspendale, Victoria, Australia

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C. Jakob ECMWF, Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom

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U. Lohmann Department of Physics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

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B. Rockel GKSS, Geesthacht, Germany

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L. D. Rotstayn CSIRO Atmospheric Research, Aspendale, Victoria, Australia

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R. E. Stewart Atmospheric Environment Service, Downsview, Ontario, Canada

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K. K. Szeto Atmospheric Environment Service, Downsview, Ontario, Canada

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G. Tselioudis *NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, New York

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M. K. Yau Department of Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

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Print Publication:
01 Sep 2000
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(2000)128<3218:SOACFB>2.0.CO;2
Page(s):
3218–3235
Restricted access

Abstract

The Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment has identified the poor representation of clouds in atmospheric general circulation models as one of the major impediments for the use of these models in reliably predicting future climate change. One of the most commonly encountered types of cloud system in midlatitudes is that associated with cyclones. The purpose of this study is to investigate the representation of frontal cloud systems in a hierarchy of models in order to identify their relative weaknesses. The hierarchy of models was classified according to the horizontal resolution: cloud-resolving models (5-km resolution), limited-area models (20-km resolution), coarse-grid single-column models (300 km), and an atmospheric general circulation model (>100 km). The models were evaluated using both in situ and satellite data.

The study shows, as expected, that the higher-resolution models give a more complete description of the front and capture many of the observed nonlinear features of the front. At the low resolution, the simulations are unable to capture the front accurately due to the lack of the nonlinear features seen in the high-resolution simulations. The model intercomparison identified problems in applying single-column models to rapidly advecting baroclinic systems. Mesoscale circulations driven by subgrid-scale dynamical, thermodynamical, and microphysical processes are identified as an important feedback mechanism linking the frontal circulations and the cloud field. Finally it is shown that the same techniques used to validate climatological studies with International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project data are also valid for case studies, thereby providing a methodology to generalize the single case studies to climatological studies.

Corresponding author address: Dr. Brian F. Ryan, CSIRO, Division of Atmospheric Research, Private Bag 1, 3195 Aspendale, Australia.

Email: brian.ryan@dar.csiro.au

Abstract

The Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment has identified the poor representation of clouds in atmospheric general circulation models as one of the major impediments for the use of these models in reliably predicting future climate change. One of the most commonly encountered types of cloud system in midlatitudes is that associated with cyclones. The purpose of this study is to investigate the representation of frontal cloud systems in a hierarchy of models in order to identify their relative weaknesses. The hierarchy of models was classified according to the horizontal resolution: cloud-resolving models (5-km resolution), limited-area models (20-km resolution), coarse-grid single-column models (300 km), and an atmospheric general circulation model (>100 km). The models were evaluated using both in situ and satellite data.

The study shows, as expected, that the higher-resolution models give a more complete description of the front and capture many of the observed nonlinear features of the front. At the low resolution, the simulations are unable to capture the front accurately due to the lack of the nonlinear features seen in the high-resolution simulations. The model intercomparison identified problems in applying single-column models to rapidly advecting baroclinic systems. Mesoscale circulations driven by subgrid-scale dynamical, thermodynamical, and microphysical processes are identified as an important feedback mechanism linking the frontal circulations and the cloud field. Finally it is shown that the same techniques used to validate climatological studies with International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project data are also valid for case studies, thereby providing a methodology to generalize the single case studies to climatological studies.

Corresponding author address: Dr. Brian F. Ryan, CSIRO, Division of Atmospheric Research, Private Bag 1, 3195 Aspendale, Australia.

Email: brian.ryan@dar.csiro.au

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