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Sensitivity of simulation of rapidly intensified tropical cyclones to local planetary boundary layer scheme

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Abstract

Simulation of stronger convergence of angular momentum in the boundary layer by the turbulent kinetic energy planetary boundary layer (PBL) schemes causes faster spin-up of the tropical cyclone (TC) vortex. We have conducted two experiments using local turbulent kinetic energy-based PBL parameterization schemes viz. Mellor-Yamada-Janjic (MYJ) and Bougeault-Lacarrere (Boulac) schemes have been used to analyze their impacts on the simulation of three TCs formed over the North Indian Ocean. The high-resolution (2 km) reanalysis has been developed by 6 hourly cyclic data assimilation using the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) and data assimilation (WRFDA). The impact of PBL schemes has been investigated by comparing the developed reanalysis with the observations and IMD reanalysis. MYJ experiment showed lower bias in the simulation of genesis stage winds, variation in minimum sea level pressure, and rainfall distribution compared to the Boulac experiment. For TC Fani, Boulac experiments have more bias in the simulation of potential temperature at the lower troposphere. The Boulac experiment captured the high wind speed at the maximum intensity (MI) stage and the drastic increment in wind speed during the rapid intensification (RI). Both the schemes overestimated the RI of TC Fani. Whereas, for post-monsoon TCs Luban and Ockhi, the RI was more precisely captured by the Boulac experiment compared to the MYJ experiment. The successful simulation of intense wind speed at the MI stages by the Boulac experiment is attributed to the simulation of higher moisture flux and stronger updraft in the Boulac experiment.

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Data availability

WRF version 4.2 [Software], used for the simulation of tropical cyclones, is available at https://www2.mmm.ucar.edu/wrf/users/docs/user_guide_v4/v4.2/contents.html (updated: April 23, 2020). The numerical experiments for the development of high-resolution reanalysis were conducted in the High-Performance Computing system at NARL, and they can be made available upon sending data requisition to the data committee of NARL. For the assimilation we used satellite data, for model initialization we used GFS analysis data, and for depicting tropical cyclone intensity variation we used meteorological best track data. The sources of the data sets are cited below: For the assimilation of satellite radiance data, the Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS) radiance dataset provided by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has been used (NCEP 2009). The scatterometer wind data, extracted from in situ data in“prepbufr” format, has been used (NCEP 2008). For initialization of the WRF model, we used GFS analysis [Dataset] of 0.5° × 0.5° resolution and a 6-hourly temporal resolution that is freely available at https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/global-forecastsystem/access/historical/analysis. For tropical cyclone maximum surface wind and minimum sea level pressure the 3-hourly India Meteorological Department (IMD) tropical cyclone best track data [Dataset] has been used from the IMD portal https://rsmcnewdelhi.imd.gov.in/report.php?internal_menu=MzM=.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Dr. Amit Kumar Patra, Director, NARL, for his support and guidance. The authors are thankful to NCAR, USA, for making the WRF model available for simulations. WRF model can be downloaded from the website https://www.mmm.ucar.edu/weather-research-and-forecasting-model. The authors are also grateful to NCEP, NCAR, and NOAA for providing datasets for cyclic data assimilation. The authors are thankful to IMD, NASA, and Wyoming, USA, for providing the data that has been used for the validation of reanalysis.

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  1. National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Gadanki, Tirupati District, Andhra Pradesh, 517112, India

    Arpita Munsi, Amit P. Kesarkar & Jyoti Bhate

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  1. Arpita Munsi
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Correspondence to Arpita Munsi.

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Munsi, A., Kesarkar, A.P. & Bhate, J. Sensitivity of simulation of rapidly intensified tropical cyclones to local planetary boundary layer scheme. Model. Earth Syst. Environ. 10, 3881–3896 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40808-024-01984-7

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