The impact of vertical resolution on the simulation of Typhoon Lekima (2019) by a cloud-permitting model

Abstract

The impact of vertical resolution on the simulation of Typhoon Lekima (2019) is investigated using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model version 3.8.1. Results show that decreasing vertical grid spacing from approximately 1000 m to 100 m above 1 km height barely influences the simulated track. However, significant differences are found in the simulated tropical cyclone (TC) structure. The simulation with the coarsest vertical resolution shows a clear double warm-core structure. The upper warm core weakens and even disappears with the increase of vertical resolution. A broader eye and a more slantwise eyewall are observed with the increase of vertical resolution due to the vertically extended lower-level and upper-level outflow, which likely results in a weaker subsidence. Vertical grid convergence is evaluated with the simulated kinetic energy (KE) spectra. As the vertical grid spacing becomes finer than 200 m, convergent KE spectra are found in both the free atmosphere and the outer core of the TC. However, sensitivity tests reveal that the grid convergence is sensitive to the choice of the planetary boundary layer scheme.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

vertical resolution / tropical cyclone / warm core / kinetic energy spectra

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Jianwen Bao from NOAA/ESRL/PSD for his support and helpful discussions. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. We thank Prof. Bowen Zhou from Nanjing University, Dr. Martin Köhler from Deutscher Wetterdienst and Dr. Shiwei Sun from Nanjing Joint Institute for Atmospheric Sciences for their reviews. This study was sponsored by the Research Program from Science and Technology Committee of Shanghai (No.19dz1200101), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2016YFE0109700) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42075012).

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