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Systematic errors in the WRF model planetary boundary layer schemes for two contrasting monsoon seasons over the state of Odisha and its neighborhood region

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Abstract

This study evaluates the characteristics of systematic errors (up to day 4) in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) parameterization schemes over the state of Odisha and its neighboring regions for two contrasting monsoon seasons, i.e., 2013 (normal) and 2014 (deficit), using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. A total of 1112 numerical experiments are carried out, each with initial conditions from May 28 to September 29 using four PBL schemes, i.e., Yonsei University (YSU), Mellor-Yamada-Nakanishi-Niino (MYNN), Asymmetric Convective Model version 2 (ACM2), and Medium Range Forecast (MRF) with horizontal resolutions of 27 and 9 km with a lead time up to 96 h. It is found that the PBL parameterizations significantly impact the basic atmospheric variables (i.e., wind, temperature, moisture, and rainfall) and associated convective processes such as moist static energy. The wind and rainfall forecast skill of MRF showed better agreement with European Re-Analysis (ERAI). However, YSU has better skills for 2-m temperature and specific humidity compared to others. All PBL schemes produced a moist bias at the surface except MRF. The principle cause of this moist bias with mid tropospheric warming is attributed to inherent tendency of the model to overestimate moist static energy leading to intense vertical motion and convective instability. The magnitude of errors for wind forecast is higher for the deficit year compared to the normal monsoon year. However, the strength of the cross equatorial flow is found to be weaker in all the experiments for both the seasons. In general, the spread and magnitude of errors are large for 2013 (normal) as compared to 2014 (deficit) year.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar for providing us all the research facilities and helpful assistance required for this purpose. The authors thankfully acknowledge visualization tool GrADS (Grid Analysis and Display System) which is default free software by Linux community, National Centre for Environment Prediction (NCEP-FNL), European Centre for Medium range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) and India Meteorological Department (IMD) for providing us all those data sets required for the initialization and validation of the WRF model.

Funding

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Scientific and Engineering Research Board (SERB), and Department of Science and Technology, Government of India provided the financial assistance in terms of research grants (RP-063, RP-132, RP-193) for carrying out this work.

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  1. School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences, IIT Bhubaneswar, Argul, Jatni, Khurda, 752050, India

    Vivekananda Hazra & Sandeep Pattnaik

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  1. Vivekananda Hazra
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Correspondence to Sandeep Pattnaik.

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Hazra, V., Pattnaik, S. Systematic errors in the WRF model planetary boundary layer schemes for two contrasting monsoon seasons over the state of Odisha and its neighborhood region. Theor Appl Climatol 139, 1079–1096 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-019-03023-3

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