Impact of moisture divergence on systematic errors in precipitation around the Tibetan Plateau in a general circulation model

Abstract

Current state-of-the-art atmospheric general circulation models tend to strongly overestimate the amount of precipitation around steep mountains, which constitutes a stubborn systematic error that causes the climate drift and hinders the model performance. In this study, two contrasting model tests are performed to investigate the sensitivity of precipitation around steep slopes. The first model solves a true moisture advection equation, whereas the second solves an artificial advection equation with an additional moisture divergence term. It is shown that the orographic precipitation can be largely impacted by this term. Excessive (insufficient) precipitation amounts at the high (low) parts of the steep slopes decrease (increase) when the moisture divergence term is added. The precipitation changes between the two models are primarily attributed to large-scale precipitation, which is directly associated with water vapor saturation and condensation. Numerical weather prediction experiments using these two models suggest that precipitation differences between the models emerge shortly after the model startup. The implications of the results are also discussed.