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Critical grid size for simulating convective storms: A case study of the Del City supercell storm
Author(s) -
Noda A.,
Niino H.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2003gl017498
Subject(s) - supercell , storm , convective storm detection , convection , meteorology , grid , mesoscale meteorology , mesoscale convective system , geology , environmental science , climatology , atmospheric sciences , physics , geodesy
The dependence of a numerically‐simulated ‘Del City’ supercell storm on grid size is studied. A reference run with the grid size of 0.5 km successfully reproduces the supercell as demonstrated in the previous studies. In this sensitivity study, the grid size is varied from 1.0 km to 3.0 km with an interval of 100 m. When the grid size is less than 2.5 km, the storm evolves in a manner qualitatively similar to the reference run. When it is larger than 2.5 km, however, the evolution of the storm changes drastically because of an insufficient estimation of the shear‐induced dynamic pressure. The present “critical grid size” is much smaller than that expected from the former sensitivity studies. Thus, one has to be more careful in choosing the grid size when performing a prediction of mesoscale convective systems, the behavior of which depends strongly on the behavior of individual meso‐γ‐scale convective storms.