1. S ENSITIVITIES OF S PECTRAL N UDGING T OWARD M OISTURE Tanya L. Otte 1, Martin J. Otte 1, Jared H. Bowden 2, and Christopher G. Nolte 1 1 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 2 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 13 th Annual WRF Users’ Workshop Boulder, Colorado 28 June 2012

2. T HREE 20- YEAR H ISTORICAL R UNS IN R EGIONAL C LIMATE M ODE WRFv3.2.1: 2 Dec 1987 – 1 Jan 2008, continuous run Initialized from 2.5° × 2.5° NCEP/DOE Reanalysis II 108-36-km, 2-way-nested 34 layers, top at 50 hPa WSM6 microphysics Grell ensemble convection RRTMG radiation YSU PBL scheme NOAH LSM Nudging: none (NN), analysis (AN), spectral (SN) No nudging in PBL; some changes to coefficients Comparisons to NARR and CFSR on 36-km domain 2 Figure courtesy J. Herwehe

3. P RECIPITATION D IFFERENCE FROM NARR ( AVERAGED OVER 20- YEAR PERIOD ) Otte et al., J. Climate, in press SN is consistently wetter than AN in 5 of 6 regions. SN wet bias is often as large as or larger than NN. 3 0 -20 20 40 60 0 -20 20 40 60 mm Compare to 3-h, 32-km NARR

4. E FFECTS OF N UDGING ON P RECIPITATION E XTREMES 4 Days >0.5” Days >1.0” AN closer to NARR than SN for extremes of precipitation. Otte et al., J. Climate, in press Annual Area-Average Days Exceeding Threshold Precipitation Compare to 3-h, 32-km NARR 30 0 40 20 10 8890929496980002040607050301999795939189 Midwest

5. W E P REFER TO USE S PECTRAL N UDGING FOR R EGIONAL C LIMATE M ODELING SN is spatial-scale-selective whereas AN is not. SN preserves spatial variability in the desirable range. AN dampens variability, but produces comparable 2-m temperature to and better precipitation than SN. Motivating Science Question: Can SN precipitation be improved without compromising 2-m temperature? Hypothesis: SN will predict precipitation better if also nudging toward moisture. 5

6. T AYLOR D IAGRAMS – P RECIPITABLE W ATER (“SN S ENSITIVITIES WITH N UDGING Q” VS. NARR, 3- YR ) Adding SN toward moisture (all except ▪) improves PWAT comparison to NARR, even in PBL, and not always in same direction (SW vs. NW). 6 NorthwestMidwestNortheast SoutheastPlainsSouthwest

7. W E ITERATED ON STRATEGIES TO USE SPECTRAL NUDGING OF MOISTURE. “Default” coefficient (~1 h timescale) is too strong Did not improve precipitation Resulted in too many clouds Conservative coefficient (~6 h timescale) works well Tracks consistently with AN (same coefficient) Both had too many high clouds and too low OLR! Implemented “reverse Zfac” to limit nudging above tropopause Restricted nudging of  above tropopause and lowered its coefficient to match Q G  = 4.5 × 10 -5 s -1 and G Q = 4.5 × 10 -5 s -1 (time scale ~6 h) Same coefficients used on both domains 7

8. 20-Y EAR M ONTHLY P RECIPITATION D IFFERENCE FROM NARR 8 Northwest Midwest SN_with_Q reduces overprediction of monthly precipitation in SN. 0 -50 50 0 -50 50 mm

9. A NNUAL A REA -A VERAGE D AYS WITH P RECIPITATION >0.5” 9 Northwest Midwest SN_with_Q improves prediction of extreme precipitation events. 20 0 40 20 0 40 days

10. 20-Y EAR M ONTHLY T EMPERATURE D IFFERENCE FROM CFSR 10 Northwest Midwest Overall, SN_with_Q improves 2-m temperatures compared with SN. 0 -2 2 0 2 K

11. A NNUAL A REA -A VERAGE D AYS WITH T EMPERATURE >90°F 11 Northwest Midwest SN_with_Q creates slight to modest improvements in prediction of extreme warm temperatures. days 20 0 40 60 20 0 40 60

12. C OMPARISON TO CERES: LW U PWARD R ADIATION AT TOA 12 NorthwestMidwest SN and SN_with_Q agree well with CERES outgoing longwave radiation. 200 150 250 300 200 150 250 300 W m -2

13. C OMPARISON TO CERES: V ERY H IGH C LOUD F RACTION ( ABOVE 300 H P A ) 13 NorthwestMidwest SN_with_Q reduces overprediction of very high clouds by ~4%. 0.2 0.0 0.8 1.0 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.8 1.0 0.6 0.4 fraction

14. S PECTRALLY NUDGING MOISTURE CAN IMPROVE PRECIPITATION IN WRF! Did not compromise 2-m temperature verification! Improved extreme heat predictions! Must be careful and conservative! Default coefficient (G Q = 3.0 × 10 -4 s -1 ) is too high! Fairly low coefficient (G Q = 1.0 × 10 -5 s -1 ) is too low! Can be limited to below tropopause High clouds and radiation more consistent with CERES Little effect on 2-m temperature or precipitation Also restricting  nudging above tropopause and reducing G  improves simulation Applying consistent nudging to thermodynamics 14 Contact me if you want to see more details!