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Sensitivity of a global climate model to the critical Richardson number in the boundary layer parameterization

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JD022015· OSTI ID:1201338
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. Nanjing Univ., Nanjing (China)
  2. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  3. Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Beijing (China)
  4. Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
The critical bulk Richardson number (Ricr) is an important parameter in planetary boundary layer (PBL) parameterization schemes used in many climate models. This paper examines the sensitivity of a Global Climate Model, the Beijing Climate Center Atmospheric General Circulation Model, BCC_AGCM to Ricr. The results show that the simulated global average of PBL height increases nearly linearly with Ricr, with a change of about 114 m for a change of 0.5 in Ricr. The surface sensible (latent) heat flux decreases (increases) as Ricr increases. The influence of Ricr on surface air temperature and specific humidity is not significant. The increasing Ricr may affect the location of the Westerly Belt in the Southern Hemisphere. Further diagnosis reveals that changes in Ricr affect stratiform and convective precipitations differently. Increasing Ricr leads to an increase in the stratiform precipitation but a decrease in the convective precipitation. Significant changes of convective precipitation occur over the inter-tropical convergence zone, while changes of stratiform precipitation mostly appear over arid land such as North Africa and Middle East.
Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
OSTI ID:
1201338
Report Number(s):
BNL--107834-2015-JA; KP1703020
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 120; ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
critical bulk Richardson number
global climate model
planetary boundary layer
precipitation