Impact of New Solar Radiation Parameterization in the Eta Model on the Simulation of Summer Climate over South America

Abstract

Abstract The regional Eta workstation (WS) model with horizontal resolution of 40 km has been integrated over South America for January 2003. The NCEP–DOE Reanalysis II was used for initial and lateral boundary conditions. The comparison of the model-simulated and satellite-derived values of monthly mean incident solar radiation at the surface demonstrates that the former values are larger by 20%–30% over the entire region. To improve the surface flux representation in the model, a new solar radiation scheme has been implemented in it. An offline comparison of the original and the new radiation schemes with the detailed line-by-line method demonstrates a higher accuracy for the new scheme. With the new scheme, the model-simulated incident solar radiation at the surface is in a better agreement with the satellite-derived data. Nevertheless, a noticeable systematic difference of 10%–20% still remains, probably because of the incorrect description of cloud parameters in the model. The lower incident solar radiation in the new version of the model causes a decrease of near-surface air temperature by 0.1°–1°C and a decrease of precipitation rate by up to 20%–30% over most of the continent. The increase in the simulated incident solar radiation and temperature is found in the region of the South Atlantic convergence zone, which is responsible for the enhanced cloudiness and precipitation in the central and southeastern parts of Brazil during summer. The model results are compared with observational data of meteorological stations, the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP), and the South American Low-Level Jet Experiment (SALLJEX) and are discussed.