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Variational assimilation of satellite cloud water/ice path and microphysics scheme sensitivity to the assimilation of a rainfall case

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Abstract

Hydrometeor variables (cloud water and cloud ice mixing ratios) are added into the WRF three-dimensional variational assimilation system as additional control variables to directly analyze hydrometeors by assimilating cloud observations. In addition, the background error covariance matrix of hydrometeors is modeled through a control variable transform, and its characteristics discussed in detail. A suite of experiments using four microphysics schemes (LIN, SBU-YLIN, WDM6 and WSM6) are performed with and without assimilating satellite cloud liquid/ice water path. We find analysis of hydrometeors with cloud assimilation to be significantly improved, and the increment and distribution of hydrometeors are consistent with the characteristics of background error covariance. Diagnostic results suggest that the forecast with cloud assimilation represents a significant improvement, especially the ability to forecast precipitation in the first seven hours. It is also found that the largest improvement occurs in the experiment using the WDM6 scheme, since the assimilated cloud information can sustain for longer in this scheme. The least improvement, meanwhile, appears in the experiment using the SBU-YLIN scheme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster of Ministry of Education/Joint International Research Laboratory of Climate and Environment Change/Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China

    Yaodeng Chen, Ruizhi Zhang, Deming Meng & Jinzhong Min

  2. China Meteorological Administration Training Center, Beijing, 100081, China

    Lina Zhang

Authors
  1. Yaodeng Chen
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  2. Ruizhi Zhang
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  3. Deming Meng
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  4. Jinzhong Min
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  5. Lina Zhang
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Correspondence to Yaodeng Chen.

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Chen, Y., Zhang, R., Meng, D. et al. Variational assimilation of satellite cloud water/ice path and microphysics scheme sensitivity to the assimilation of a rainfall case. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 33, 1158–1170 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-016-6004-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-016-6004-3

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