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Impacts of spectral nudging on the sensitivity of a regional climate model to convective parameterizations in East Asia

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Abstract

The sensitivity of a regional climate model (RCM) to cumulus parameterization (CUPA) schemes in modeling summer precipitation over East Asia has been investigated by using the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University-National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (PSU-NCAR MM5). The feasibility of physical ensemble and the effect of interior (spectral) nudging are also assessed. The RCM simulations are evaluated against the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data and NCEP/CPC precipitation data for three summers (JJA) in 1991, 1998, and 2003. The results show that the RCM is highly sensitive to CUPA schemes. Different CUPA schemes cause distinctive characteristics in the modeling of JJA precipitation and the intraseasonal (daily) variability of regional precipitation. The sensitivity of the RCM simulations to the CUPA schemes is reduced by adopting the spectral nudging technique, which enables the RCM to reproduce more realistic large-scale circulations at the upper levels of the atmosphere as well as near the surface, and better precipitation simulation in the selected experiments. The ensemble simulations using different CUPA schemes show higher skills than individual members for both control runs and spectral nudging runs. The physical ensemble adopting the spectral nudging technique shows the highest downscaling skill in capturing the general circulation patterns for all experiments and improved temporal distributions of precipitation in some regions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China

    Shi Song  (宋 寔), Jianping Tang  (汤剑平) & Xing Chen  (陈 星)

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  1. Shi Song  (宋 寔)
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  2. Jianping Tang  (汤剑平)
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  3. Xing Chen  (陈 星)
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Correspondence to Jianping Tang  (汤剑平).

Additional information

Supported by the “973” National Basic Research Program of China under Grant Nos. 2011CB952004 and 2006CB400500, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 40705029 and 40830639.

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Song, S., Tang, J. & Chen, X. Impacts of spectral nudging on the sensitivity of a regional climate model to convective parameterizations in East Asia. Acta Meteorol Sin 25, 63–77 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-011-0005-z

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