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Dependence of the accuracy of precipitation and cloud simulation on temporal and spatial scales

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Abstract

Precipitation and associated cloud hydrometeors have large temporal and spatial variability, which makes accurate quantitative precipitation forecasting difficult. Thus, dependence of accurate precipitation and associated cloud simulation on temporal and spatial scales becomes an important issue. We report a cloudresolving modeling analysis on this issue by comparing the control experiment with experiments perturbed by initial temperature, water vapor, and cloud conditions. The simulation is considered to be accurate only if the root-mean-squared difference between the perturbation experiments and the control experiment is smaller than the standard deviation. The analysis may suggest that accurate precipitation and cloud simulations cannot be obtained on both fine temporal and spatial scales simultaneously, which limits quantitative precipitation forecasting. The accurate simulation of water vapor convergence could lead to accurate precipitation and cloud simulations on daily time scales, but it may not be beneficial to precipitation and cloud simulations on hourly time scales due to the dominance of cloud processes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Cloud-Precipitation Physics and Severe Storms, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Shouting Gao  (高守亭)

  2. Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation and NOAA/NESDIS/Center for Satellite Application and Research, Camp Springs, Maryland, USA

    Xiaofan Li

Authors
  1. Shouting Gao  (高守亭)
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  2. Xiaofan Li
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Correspondence to Shouting Gao  (高守亭).

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Gao, S., Li, X. Dependence of the accuracy of precipitation and cloud simulation on temporal and spatial scales. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 26, 1108–1114 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-009-8143-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-009-8143-2

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