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The effect of model grid length and orographic rainfall ‘efficiency’ on computed surface rainfall
Author(s) -
Collier C. G.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.49710343603
Subject(s) - orographic lift , grid , meteorology , environmental science , orography , parameterized complexity , grid cell , climatology , atmospheric sciences , precipitation , geology , mathematics , geometry , geography , combinatorics
Surface rainfall distributions over North and South Wales are derived using a numerical parameterization model. Several different grid lengths are used which allow the dependence on grid length of areal rainfall produced by the model to be examined. It is found that as the grid length increases from one to ten kilometres areal rainfall totals predicted by the model decrease, in some cases quite rapidly. the areal rainfall totals also depend upon the amount of orographic enhancement operating in particular cases owing to cloud physics processes which are not parameterized in the model. A suggestion is offered as to how these processes may be taken into account in the model.