Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2023-7
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2023-7
27 Feb 2023
 | 27 Feb 2023
Status: this preprint is currently under review for the journal WCD.

Understanding the dependence of mean precipitation on convective treatment in tropical aquachannel experiments

Hyunju Jung, Peter Knippertz, Yvonne Ruckstuhl, Robert Redl, Tijana Janjic, and Corinna Hoose

Abstract. The intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) is a key circulation and precipitation feature in the tropics. There has been a large spread in the representation of the ITCZ in global weather and climate models for a long time, the reasons for which remain unclear. This manuscript presents a novel approach with which we disentangle different physical processes responsible for the changeable behavior of the ITCZ in numerical models. The diagnostic tool is based on a conceptual framework developed by Emanuel (2019) and allows for physically consistent estimates of convective mass flux and precipitation efficiency for simulations with explicit and parameterized convection. We apply our diagnostics to a set of tropical aquachannel experiments using the ICOsahedral Nonhydrostatic (ICON) model with horizontal grid resolution of 13 km and with various representations of deep and shallow convection. The channel length corresponds to the Earth's circumference and has rigid walls at 30° N/S. Zonally symmetric sea surface temperatures are prescribed.

All four runs share overall similar rainfall patterns and dynamical structures. They simulate an ITCZ at the equator coinciding with the ascending branch of the Hadley circulation, descending branches at 15° N/S with subtropical jets and easterly trade wind belts straddling the ITCZ. Differences are largest between runs with and without parameterized deep convection. With explicit deep convection, rainfall in the ITCZ increases by 35 % and the Hadley circulation as well as surface winds become stronger. Our diagnostic framework reveals that boundary-layer quasi-equilibrium is a key to physically understanding those differences. The stronger surface horizontal winds with explicit deep convection essentially enhance surface enthalpy fluxes and thus perturb quasi-equilibrium in the boundary layer. This is balanced by increasing convective downdraft mass flux that carries low moist static energy from the lower troposphere into the boundary layer. The downdraft strength is proportional to convective updraft mass flux, which is closely linked to rainfall, since – somewhat surprisingly – the convective treatment does not appear to influence precipitation efficiency significantly. Changes in radiative cooling are largely compensated by changes in dry stability, leading to little impact on rainfall. The results highlight the utility of our diagnostics to pinpoint processes important for rainfall differences between models, suggesting applicability for global climate model intercomparison projects.

Hyunju Jung et al.

Status: final response (author comments only)

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on wcd-2023-7', Anonymous Referee #1, 01 Mar 2023
  • RC2: 'Comment on wcd-2023-7', Anonymous Referee #2, 11 Apr 2023

Hyunju Jung et al.

Hyunju Jung et al.

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Short summary
A narrow rainfall belt in the tropics is an important feature for large-scale circulations and global water cycle. However, it has been a long-standing problem in modeling community to simulate this rainfall feature realistically, and the reasons behind that are unclear. This manuscript presents a novel diagnostics that allows us to disentangle processes important for rainfall. Using our diagnostics, one can potentially identify sources of uncertainty in global weather and climate models.