Biswas, Mrinal K., National Center for Atmospheric
Research, Ligia R Bernardet, CIRES,NOAA/ESRL/GSD, Shaowu Bao,
CIRES,NOAA/ESRL/GSD
Previous research has
documented that tropical cyclone forecasts generated with both global and
regional models are highly sensitivity to the choice of cumulus
parameterizations. They have shown significant impact on the hurricane track,
intensity and wind structure. In this study, the Hurricane WRF (HWRF) model
with 27/9/3 km resolution is used to assess the impact of different cumulus
parameterization schemes for Atlantic and Eastern Pacific storms. Our study
shows cumulus parameterizations affect both the large- and storm-scale fields,
impacting track and intensity forecasts. Additionally, the storm structures are
significantly different when different schemes are used.
To accomplish this work,
the Developmental Testbed Center (DTC) and the NCAR Mesoscale and Microscale
division have collaborated to make more
cumulus schemes available to run with the HWRF model. A greater
availability of schemes offers the possibility of more extensive research by
the community and the HWRF developers to evaluate the impact of the convective
parameterizations. These additional physics schemes can be used for
physics-diversity ensemble forecasting as well as for exploring alternative
physics for the operational model.