The impact of positive-definite moisture advection and low-level moisture flux bias over orography

Abstract

Overprediction of precipitation has been a frequently noted problem near terrain. Higher model resolution helps simulate sharp microphysical gradients more realistically but can increase spuriously generated moisture in some numerical schemes. The positive-definite moisture advection (PDA) scheme in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model reduces a significant nonphysical moisture source in the model. This study examines the 13-14 December 2001 second Improvement of Microphysical Parameterization through Observational Verification Experiment (IMPROVE-2) case, in which PDA reduces storm-total precipitation over Oregon by 3%-17%, varying with geographical region, model resolution, and the phase of the storm. The influence of PDA is then analyzed for each hydrometeor species in the Thompson microphysics scheme. Without PDA, the cloud liquid water field generates most of the spurious moisture because of the high frequency of sharp gradients near upwind cloud edges. It is shown that PDA substantially improves precipitation verification and that subtle, but significant, changes occur in the distribution of microphysical species aloft. Finally, another potential source of orographic precipitation error is examined: excessive low-level moisture flux upstream of regional orography. © 2009 American Meteorological Society.