How does the “box modifying” code work?

Within a 3-dimensional box, the temperature tendencies due to convection, cloud and radiation processes can be modified using a scaling factor. The box can be either static or move along a linear path. The duration of the scaling in time can be chosen arbitrarily and within this period the scaling factor is applied in every integration time step.

Please note the followings:

  1. When you increase (reduce) the original tendency values, i.e. the scaling factor is greater (lower) than 1, it does not mean necessarily heating (cooling). If the original temperature tendency was negative, it leads to increased (reduced) cooling, e.g., in case of temperature tendency due to radiation at night.

  2. The scaling modifies the given temperature tendency in the beginning of the time steps.

  3. The model time step was 900 s in the experiments. The solution of the radiative transfer equation to obtain the fluxes is very expensive, so computer time spent in the radiation calculations are saved by using a reduced radiation grid and calling the full radiation with a reduced time frequency (3 hours). Between the full radiation time steps, a reduced radiation configuration is applied to update the radiative fluxes at every grid point and every time step for the relevant instantaneous temperature profile and solar zenith angle.

  4. For visualization, temperature tendency is accumulated during the days, its unit is K/day. The humidity tendencies are also accumulated and scaled to K/day.

  5. The magnitude of temperature tendency due to radiation is much lower (a few K/day) than the one due to convection (reaching even 20-30 K/day in some regions).

User group experiments

Table: User group experiments.

Experiment

Scientific contentGroup
controlOpenIFS 43r3 experiment at TCo399L137 resolution with 900 s time step using ERA5 as initial condition at 00 on 25 September 2019 (no scaling)All groups
rad_0_NA_topScaling to 0 for radiative tendency between 400 and 50 hPa over the North AtlanticJake, Leo
rad_2_NA_topDoubling the radiative tendency between 400 and 50 hPa over the North AtlanticJake, Leo
rad_0_KarlScaling to 0 for radiative tendency between 900 and 100 hPa over KarlArnaud, Lorenzo, Miriam, Mokhliss

all_0_Karl

Scaling to 0 for tendencies due to radiation, convection and cloud processes between 900 and 100 hPa over Karl

Arnaud, Lorenzo, Miriam, Mokhliss
con_0_Karl_48h

Scaling to 0 for convective tendency in a box moving with Karl in the first 48 hours

Irina, Lauri, Mika, Terhi + Joakim
con_2_Karl_48hDoubling the convective tendency in a box moving with Karl in the first 48 hoursIrina, Lauri, Mika, Terhi + Joakim
con_0.5_def_24h

Scaling to 0.5 for convective tendency in the “default” box between 900 and 200 hPa in the first 24 hours

Guokun, Jian-Feng, Jun, Ying + Victoria
con_1.5_def_24hScaling to 1.5 for convective tendency in the “default” box between 900 and 200 hPa in the first 24 hoursGuokun, Jian-Feng, Jun, Ying + Victoria
con_0.5_Karl_48h

Scaling to 0.5 for convective tendency between 900 and 300 hPa in a box moving with Karl in the first 48 hours

Bethan, Federico, Marvin
con_1.5_Karl_48hScaling to 1.5 for convective tendency between 900 and 300 hPa in a box moving with Karl in the first 48 hoursBethan, Federico, Marvin
cloud_0.5_Karl_48h

 Scaling to 0.5 for tendency due to cloud microphysics between 900 and 300 hPa in a box moving with Karl in the first 48 hours

Bethan, Federico, Marvin
cloud_0.5_Karl_48hScaling to 1.5 for tendency due to cloud microphysics between 900 and 300 hPa in a box moving with Karl in the first 48 hoursBethan, Federico, Marvin


Experiments modifying the temperature tendency due to radiation

Main conclusions:

  1. Increasing tendency from radiation (heating at daytime, cooling at night) in the upper levels over the North Atlantic (experiment rad_2_NA_top in Table) leads to higher mean sea level pressure values over the North Atlantic and it is compensated with lower MSLP almost everywhere else (Fig. 1).
  2. Nullified tendency from radiation over the North Atlantic from 900 to 100 hPa (experiment rad_0_Karl) slightly deepen the cyclone (or shift it eastwards). The output tendency from radiation remains below 1K/day after 48 hours (i.e. at 00 UTC; Fig. 2).

Explanation:

  1. ?
  2. The tendency due to radiation is chopped back every time step, so basically the radiation does not have too much contribution to the total tendency. However, it affects the results only slightly due to the magnitude of this sort of tendency.


Figure 1: Difference in mean sea level pressure (in hPa) between the experiment with no temperature tendency from radiation (rad_0_NA_top) and the experiment with doubled temperature tendency from radiation (rad_2_NA_top).


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