Diurnal cycle of summer precipitation over the Eastern Tibetan Plateau and surrounding regions simulated in a convection-permitting model

Abstract

AbstractBased on the hourly gauge-satellite merged precipitation data with the spatial resolution of 0.1° × 0.1° during 2013 ~ 2018, we have evaluated the performance of the convection-permitting Weather Research and Forecasting model at Nanjing University (WRF_NJU) in forecasting the precipitation diurnal variation and the associated atmospheric circulation over the eastern Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding regions during summer. Results indicate that WRF_NJU model can well reproduce the diurnal cycle of the summer precipitation in terms of the diurnal peak time, duration and magnitude. In addition, the eastward propagation of rainfall systems with long duration along the eastern Tibetan Plateau (ETP) and its adjacent areas can also be properly captured. The WRF_NJU model can reasonably reproduce the relevant atmospheric circulation during summer as well. However, the model tends to underestimate the summer precipitation amount (PA) and precipitation frequency (PF) over most time of a day. Relatively larger biases in the occurring time and magnitude of PA and PF diurnal peaks can be noted over the ETP and Sichuan Basin. Further analysis suggests that the underestimation of PA over the ETP is attributed to the much lower moisture supply, weaker low-level southwesterly winds and less convective available potential energy (CAPE) in the WRF_NJU model than in ERA5. Over Sichuan Basin, the underestimated PA is related to the weaker upward motion, which is corresponding to the cold biases of surface air temperature in WRF_NJU. Findings of this study provide the basic model biases and may be helpful to further improve the model physical processes.