Comprehensive Methodology for the Evaluation of High-Resolution WRF Multiphysics Precipitation Simulations for Small, Topographically Complex Domains

Abstract

ABSTRACTA stepwise evaluation method and a comprehensive scoring approach are proposed and implemented to select a model setup and physics parameterizations of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model for high-resolution precipitation simulations. The ERA5 reanalysis data were dynamically downscaled to 1-km resolution for the topographically complex domain of the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The performance of the simulations was examined for three domain configurations, two model initialization approaches and 18 combinations of atmospheric physics parameterizations. Two continuous and two categorical scores were used for the evaluation. A new extreme event score, which combines hits and frequency bias, was introduced as a complementary evaluator of extremes. A composite scaled score was used to identify the overall best performing parameterizations. The least errors in mean daily and monthly precipitation amounts and daily extremes were found for the domain configuration with the largest extent and three nested domains. A 5-day initialization frequency did not improve precipitation, relative to 30-day continuous simulations. The parameterization type with the largest impact on precipitation was microphysics. The cumulus parameterization was also found to have an impact on the 1-km nested domain, despite that it was only activated in the coarser “parent” domains. Comparison of simulations with 12-, 4-, and 1-km resolution revealed the better skill of the model at 1 km. The impact of the various model configurations in the small-sized domain was different from the impact in larger model domains; this could be further explored for other atmospheric variables.