Topographic Effects on Radiation in the WRF Model with the Immersed Boundary Method: Implementation, Validation, and Application to Complex Terrain

Arthur, Robert S.; Lundquist, Katherine A.; Mirocha, Jeffrey D.; Chow, Fotini K.

doi:10.1175/MWR-D-18-0108.1

Title: Topographic Effects on Radiation in the WRF Model with the Immersed Boundary Method: Implementation, Validation, and Application to Complex Terrain

Abstract

Abstract Topographic effects on radiation, including both topographic shading and slope effects, are included in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model, and here they are made compatible with the immersed boundary method (IBM). IBM is an alternative method for representing complex terrain that reduces numerical errors over sloped terrain, thus extending the range of slopes that can be represented in WRF simulations. The implementation of topographic effects on radiation is validated by comparing land surface fluxes, as well as temperature and velocity fields, between idealized WRF simulations both with and without IBM. Following validation, the topographic shading implementation is tested in a semirealistic simulation of flow over Granite Mountain, Utah, where topographic shading is known to affect downslope flow development in the evening. The horizontal grid spacing is 50 m and the vertical grid spacing is approximately 8–27 m near the surface. Such a case would fail to run in WRF with its native terrain-following coordinates because of large local slope values reaching up to 55°. Good agreement is found between modeled surface energy budget components and observations from the Mountain Terrain Atmospheric Modeling and Observations (MATERHORN) program at a location on the east slope of Granite Mountain. Inmore »« less

Authors:

Arthur, Robert S. ^[1]; Lundquist, Katherine A. ^[1]; Mirocha, Jeffrey D. ^[1]; Chow, Fotini K. ^[2]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California

Publication Date:: Tue Sep 18 00:00:00 EDT 2018

Research Org.:: Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE); LLNL Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; Office of Naval Research (ONR) (United States)

OSTI Identifier:: 1471276

Alternate Identifier(s):: OSTI ID: 1476220

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL-738291
Journal ID: ISSN 0027-0644

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344; N00014-11-1-0709

Resource Type:: Published Article

Journal Name:: Monthly Weather Review

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Name: Monthly Weather Review Journal Volume: 146 Journal Issue: 10; Journal ID: ISSN 0027-0644

Publisher:: American Meteorological Society

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; complex terrain; downslope winds; atmosphere-land interaction; shortwave radiation; boundary conditions; vertical coordinates

Citation Formats


                    Arthur, Robert S., Lundquist, Katherine A., Mirocha, Jeffrey D., and Chow, Fotini K. Topographic Effects on Radiation in the WRF Model with the Immersed Boundary Method: Implementation, Validation, and Application to Complex Terrain.  United States: N. p., 2018. 
Web.  doi:10.1175/MWR-D-18-0108.1.

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                    Arthur, Robert S., Lundquist, Katherine A., Mirocha, Jeffrey D., & Chow, Fotini K. Topographic Effects on Radiation in the WRF Model with the Immersed Boundary Method: Implementation, Validation, and Application to Complex Terrain.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-18-0108.1

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                    Arthur, Robert S., Lundquist, Katherine A., Mirocha, Jeffrey D., and Chow, Fotini K. Tue .  
"Topographic Effects on Radiation in the WRF Model with the Immersed Boundary Method: Implementation, Validation, and Application to Complex Terrain".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-18-0108.1.

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@article{osti_1471276,

  title        = {Topographic Effects on Radiation in the WRF Model with the Immersed Boundary Method: Implementation, Validation, and Application to Complex Terrain},

  author       = {Arthur, Robert S. and Lundquist, Katherine A. and Mirocha, Jeffrey D. and Chow, Fotini K.},

  abstractNote = {Abstract Topographic effects on radiation, including both topographic shading and slope effects, are included in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model, and here they are made compatible with the immersed boundary method (IBM). IBM is an alternative method for representing complex terrain that reduces numerical errors over sloped terrain, thus extending the range of slopes that can be represented in WRF simulations. The implementation of topographic effects on radiation is validated by comparing land surface fluxes, as well as temperature and velocity fields, between idealized WRF simulations both with and without IBM. Following validation, the topographic shading implementation is tested in a semirealistic simulation of flow over Granite Mountain, Utah, where topographic shading is known to affect downslope flow development in the evening. The horizontal grid spacing is 50 m and the vertical grid spacing is approximately 8–27 m near the surface. Such a case would fail to run in WRF with its native terrain-following coordinates because of large local slope values reaching up to 55°. Good agreement is found between modeled surface energy budget components and observations from the Mountain Terrain Atmospheric Modeling and Observations (MATERHORN) program at a location on the east slope of Granite Mountain. In addition, the model captures large spatiotemporal inhomogeneities in the surface sensible heat flux that are important for the development of thermally driven flows over complex terrain.},

  doi          = {10.1175/MWR-D-18-0108.1},

  journal      = {Monthly Weather Review},

  number       = 10,

  volume       = 146,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Tue Sep 18 00:00:00 EDT 2018},

  month        = {Tue Sep 18 00:00:00 EDT 2018}

}

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Works referencing / citing this record:

Crossing Multiple Gray Zones in the Transition from Mesoscale to Microscale Simulation over Complex Terrain
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Chow, Fotini; Schär, Christoph; Ban, Nikolina
Atmosphere, Vol. 10, Issue 5
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Crossing Multiple Gray Zones in the Transition from Mesoscale to Microscale Simulation over Complex Terrain
journal, May 2019

Chow, Fotini; Schär, Christoph; Ban, Nikolina
Atmosphere, Vol. 10, Issue 5
DOI: 10.3390/atmos10050274

Large-Eddy Simulations with an Immersed Boundary Method: Pollutant Dispersion over Urban Terrain
journal, January 2020

Auguste, Franck; Lac, Christine; Masson, Valery
Atmosphere, Vol. 11, Issue 1
DOI: 10.3390/atmos11010113

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Title: Topographic Effects on Radiation in the WRF Model with the Immersed Boundary Method: Implementation, Validation, and Application to Complex Terrain

Abstract

Citation Formats

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