Simulations of a Heavy Snowfall Event in Xinjiang via the WRF Model Coupled with Different Land Surface Parameterization Schemes

Frequent heavy snowfall in Xinjiang plays an important role in the land water cycle. In this study, 18 groups of simulation experiments are conducted on the heavy snowfall event in Xinjiang during 9–13 December of 2015 using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. In these experiments, the...

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Main Authors: Guannan Ai, Shuzhou Wang, Hai Zhi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-08-01
Series:Atmosphere
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/14/9/1376
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author Guannan Ai
Shuzhou Wang
Hai Zhi
author_facet Guannan Ai
Shuzhou Wang
Hai Zhi
author_sort Guannan Ai
collection DOAJ
description Frequent heavy snowfall in Xinjiang plays an important role in the land water cycle. In this study, 18 groups of simulation experiments are conducted on the heavy snowfall event in Xinjiang during 9–13 December of 2015 using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. In these experiments, the combination of six land surface parameterization schemes (the Noah scheme, Noah-MP scheme, RUC scheme, CLM4 scheme, PX scheme, and TD scheme) with three microphysical parameterization schemes (the WSM6 scheme, Thompson scheme, and Lin scheme) are adopted, where the observed snowfall data are used for performance evaluation. Results show that the simulated snowfall intensity and snowfall range in different areas are very sensitive to the selection of the land surface scheme. The snowfall in southern Xinjiang is overestimated by almost all six schemes, where the Noah-MP scheme performs more reasonably than the others. The Noah scheme shows its advantage in northwestern Xinjiang. The three different microphysical schemes vary significantly in producing snowfall amount. The WSM6 scheme produced the largest snowfall amount, and the Lin scheme resulted in the smallest snowfall amount. In addition, the accumulated snowfall amounts above 10 mm are generally underestimated by all six land surface schemes, while the accumulated snowfall amounts below 10 mm are overestimated by most of the schemes. The Noah-MP scheme performs the best in the simulation of the snowfall amount in the whole region. However, the Noah scheme shows an advantage in areas with a large snowfall amount.
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spelling doaj.art-79f5b4cd1e854de9bef0cdda71823bb82023-11-19T09:30:26ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332023-08-01149137610.3390/atmos14091376Simulations of a Heavy Snowfall Event in Xinjiang via the WRF Model Coupled with Different Land Surface Parameterization SchemesGuannan Ai0Shuzhou Wang1Hai Zhi2Key Laboratory of Meteorological Disasters of Ministry of Education/Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, ChinaKey Laboratory of Meteorological Disasters of Ministry of Education/Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, ChinaKey Laboratory of Meteorological Disasters of Ministry of Education/Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, ChinaFrequent heavy snowfall in Xinjiang plays an important role in the land water cycle. In this study, 18 groups of simulation experiments are conducted on the heavy snowfall event in Xinjiang during 9–13 December of 2015 using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. In these experiments, the combination of six land surface parameterization schemes (the Noah scheme, Noah-MP scheme, RUC scheme, CLM4 scheme, PX scheme, and TD scheme) with three microphysical parameterization schemes (the WSM6 scheme, Thompson scheme, and Lin scheme) are adopted, where the observed snowfall data are used for performance evaluation. Results show that the simulated snowfall intensity and snowfall range in different areas are very sensitive to the selection of the land surface scheme. The snowfall in southern Xinjiang is overestimated by almost all six schemes, where the Noah-MP scheme performs more reasonably than the others. The Noah scheme shows its advantage in northwestern Xinjiang. The three different microphysical schemes vary significantly in producing snowfall amount. The WSM6 scheme produced the largest snowfall amount, and the Lin scheme resulted in the smallest snowfall amount. In addition, the accumulated snowfall amounts above 10 mm are generally underestimated by all six land surface schemes, while the accumulated snowfall amounts below 10 mm are overestimated by most of the schemes. The Noah-MP scheme performs the best in the simulation of the snowfall amount in the whole region. However, the Noah scheme shows an advantage in areas with a large snowfall amount.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/14/9/1376land surface processWRF modelland surface parameterization schemeheavy snowfall
spellingShingle Guannan Ai
Shuzhou Wang
Hai Zhi
Simulations of a Heavy Snowfall Event in Xinjiang via the WRF Model Coupled with Different Land Surface Parameterization Schemes
Atmosphere
land surface process
WRF model
land surface parameterization scheme
heavy snowfall
title Simulations of a Heavy Snowfall Event in Xinjiang via the WRF Model Coupled with Different Land Surface Parameterization Schemes
title_full Simulations of a Heavy Snowfall Event in Xinjiang via the WRF Model Coupled with Different Land Surface Parameterization Schemes
title_fullStr Simulations of a Heavy Snowfall Event in Xinjiang via the WRF Model Coupled with Different Land Surface Parameterization Schemes
title_full_unstemmed Simulations of a Heavy Snowfall Event in Xinjiang via the WRF Model Coupled with Different Land Surface Parameterization Schemes
title_short Simulations of a Heavy Snowfall Event in Xinjiang via the WRF Model Coupled with Different Land Surface Parameterization Schemes
title_sort simulations of a heavy snowfall event in xinjiang via the wrf model coupled with different land surface parameterization schemes
topic land surface process
WRF model
land surface parameterization scheme
heavy snowfall
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/14/9/1376
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