Superior Daily and Sub‐Daily Precipitation Statistics for Intense and Long‐Lived Storms in Global Storm‐Resolving Models. Issue 8 (12th April 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ma, Hsi‐Yen; Klein, Stephen A.; Lee, Jiwoo; Ahn, Min‐Seop; Tao, Cheng; Gleckler, Peter J.
• Is Part Of: Geophysical research letters. Volume 49:Issue 8(2022)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2022-04-12
• Subjects: precipitation -- GCM -- global storm‐resolving models -- diurnal cycle; Geophysics -- Periodicals; Planets -- Periodicals; Lunar geology -- Periodicals; 550
• DOI: 10.1029/2021GL096759
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0094-8276

Abstract

Abstract: Daily and sub‐daily precipitation statistics are investigated from three global model ensembles: (a) global storm‐resolving models (GSRMs) with typical horizontal resolutions of ∼4 km, (b) "high"‐resolution global models with typical resolutions of ∼50 km and (c) "standard"‐resolution global models with typical resolutions of ∼100 km. Compared to two satellite rainfall datasets, GSRMs convincingly exhibit superior performance for statistics of heavier rain rate events including their diurnal cycle, spatial propagation and the amount contributed by intense precipitation, but not for statistics of weaker or shorter duration precipitation. Both high‐ and standard‐resolution models fail to simulate the correct phase and amplitude of diurnal cycle of precipitation and the propagating convection in the Central US, but high‐resolution models show relative improvement in the distribution of precipitation frequency and amount, especially for intense precipitation. Plain Language Summary: With the increasing in computation power in recent years, global storm‐resolving models (GSRMs), which have ultra‐high horizontal resolutions of 1–5 km and are capable of simulating convective storms directly, are now feasible to produce simulations beyond a month. In this study, we investigated how well these GSRMs simulate daily and sub‐daily precipitation statistics, and compared their performance with coarser‐resolution models (∼25–500 km). We demonstrated that these ultra‐high‐resolution global models outperform coarser‐resolution models in various aspects, such as the diurnal cycle of precipitation, the tropical precipitation intensity distribution of more intense events, and the propagating convection in the Central US. Key Points: Daily and sub‐daily precipitation statistics from global storm‐resolving models (GSRMs) and coarser resolution global models are compared to observations GSRMs show superior performance for statistics of more intense precipitation events including their diurnal cycle and spatial propagation GSRMs are not superior for statistics of weaker or shorter duration precipitation