Impact of Physics Representations in the HWRFX on Simulated Hurricane Structure and Pressure–Wind Relationships
Open Access
- 1 October 2012
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Meteorological Society in Monthly Weather Review
- Vol. 140 (10), 3278-3299
- https://doi.org/10.1175/mwr-d-11-00332.1
Abstract
A series of idealized experiments with the NOAA Experimental Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting Model (HWRFX) are performed to examine the sensitivity of idealized tropical cyclone (TC) intensification to various parameterization schemes of the boundary layer (BL), subgrid convection, cloud microphysics, and radiation. Results from all the experiments are compared in terms of the maximum surface 10-m wind (VMAX) and minimum sea level pressure (PMIN)—operational metrics of TC intensity—as well as the azimuthally averaged temporal and spatial structure of the tangential wind and its material acceleration. The conventional metrics of TC intensity (VMAX and PMIN) are found to be insufficient to reveal the sensitivity of the simulated TC to variations in model physics. Comparisons of the sensitivity runs indicate that (i) different boundary layer physics parameterization schemes for vertical subgrid turbulence mixing lead to differences not only in the intensity evolution in terms of VMAX and PMIN, but also in the structural characteristics of the simulated tropical cyclone; (ii) the surface drag coefficient is a key parameter that controls the VMAX–PMIN relationship near the surface; and (iii) different microphysics and subgrid convection parameterization schemes, because of their different realizations of diabatic heating distribution, lead to significant variations in the vortex structure. The quantitative aspects of these results indicate that the current uncertainties in the BL mixing, surface drag, and microphysics parameterization schemes have comparable impacts on the intensity and structure of simulated TCs. The results also indicate that there is a need to include structural parameters in the HWRFX evaluation.Keywords
This publication has 49 references indexed in Scilit:
- Atlantic Hurricane Season of 2008*Monthly Weather Review, 2010
- The Impact of Horizontal Grid Spacing on the Microphysical and Kinematic Structures of Strong Tropical Cyclones Simulated with the WRF-ARW ModelMonthly Weather Review, 2009
- Balanced and unbalanced aspects of tropical cyclone intensificationQuarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 2009
- The Maximum Intensity of Tropical Cyclones in Axisymmetric Numerical Model SimulationsMonthly Weather Review, 2009
- Cloud Microphysics Impact on Hurricane Track as Revealed in Idealized ExperimentsJournal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 2009
- Impact of cloud microphysics on hurricane track forecastsGeophysical Research Letters, 2007
- On the limiting aerodynamic roughness of the ocean in very strong windsGeophysical Research Letters, 2004
- Sensitivity of High-Resolution Simulations of Hurricane Bob (1991) to Planetary Boundary Layer ParameterizationsMonthly Weather Review, 2000
- CISK or WISHE as the Mechanism for Tropical Cyclone IntensificationJournal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 1996
- Sensitivity of Tropical Cyclones to Surface Exchange Coefficients and a Revised Steady-State Model incorporating Eye DynamicsJournal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 1995