WRF Sensitivity for Seasonal Climate Simulations of Precipitation Fields on the CORDEX South America Domain
Loading...
Links to Files
Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2022-01-10
Type of Work
Department
Program
Citation of Original Publication
Gomes, Helber B., Maria C. Lemos da Silva, Henrique d.M.J. Barbosa, Tércio Ambrizzi, Hakki Baltaci, Heliofábio B. Gomes, Fabrício D.d.S. Silva, Rafaela L. Costa, Silvio N. Figueroa, Dirceu L. Herdies, and Theotonio M. Pauliquevis Júnior. 2022. "WRF Sensitivity for Seasonal Climate Simulations of Precipitation Fields on the CORDEX South America Domain" Atmosphere 13, no. 1: 107. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13010107
Rights
This item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Abstract
Dynamic numerical models of the atmosphere are the main tools used for weather and
climate forecasting as well as climate projections. Thus, this work evaluated the systematic errors and
areas with large uncertainties in precipitation over the South American continent (SAC) based on
regional climate simulations with the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model. Ten simulations
using different convective, radiation, and microphysical schemes, and an ensemble mean among
them, were performed with a resolution of 50 km, covering the CORDEX-South America domain.
First, the seasonal precipitation variability and its differences were discussed. Then, its annual cycle
was investigated through nine sub-domains on the SAC (AMZN, AMZS, NEBN, NEBS, SE, SURU,
CHAC, PEQU, and TOTL). The Taylor Diagrams were used to assess the sensitivity of the model to
different parameterizations and its ability to reproduce the simulated precipitation patterns. The
results showed that the WRF simulations were better than the ERA-interim (ERAI) reanalysis when
compared to the TRMM, showing the added value of dynamic downscaling. For all sub-domains the
best result was obtained with the ensemble compared to the satellite TRMM. The largest errors were
observed in the SURU and CHAC regions, and with the greatest dispersion of members during the
rainy season. On the other hand, the best results were found in the AMZS, NEBS, and TOTL regions.