Open AccessA Physically Based Subgrid Parameterization for the Production and Maintenance of Mixed-Phase Clouds in a General Circulation Model
Author(s) -
Kalli Furtado,
Paul R. Field,
Ian Boutle,
Cyril Morcrette,
Jonathan Wilkinson
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of the atmospheric sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.853
H-Index - 173
eISSN - 1520-0469
pISSN - 0022-4928
DOI - 10.1175/jas-d-15-0021.1
Subject(s) - turbulence , supercooling , environmental science , mechanics , phase (matter) , liquid water content , scale (ratio) , physics , statistical physics , meteorology , atmospheric sciences , cloud computing , computer science , quantum mechanics , operating system
A physically based method for parameterizing the role of subgrid-scale turbulence in the production and maintenance of supercooled liquid water and mixed-phase clouds is presented. The approach used is to simplify the dynamics of supersaturation fluctuations to a stochastic differential equation that can be solved analytically, giving increments to the prognostic liquid cloud fraction and liquid water content fields in a general circulation model (GCM). Elsewhere, it has been demonstrated that the approach captures the properties of decameter-resolution large-eddy simulations of a turbulent mixed-phase environment. In this paper, it is shown that it can be implemented in a GCM, and the effects that this has on Southern Ocean biases and on Arctic stratus are investigated.