EGU23-11682
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-11682
EGU General Assembly 2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

WRF-PMCAMx: a mesoscale model for cloud-aerosol interaction studies

Georgia Sotiropoulou1,2, David Patoulias1, Spyros Pandis1,3, and Athanasios Nenes1,2
Georgia Sotiropoulou et al.
  • 1Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH) , Patras, Greece (georgia.sotiropoulou@epfl.ch)
  • 2Laboratory of Atmospheric Processes and their Impacts (LAPI), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
  • 3Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Patras, Patras, Greece.

Cloud-aerosol interactions constitute the largest source of uncertainty in predictions of the global climate. In this study we present WRF-PMCAMx, a powerful tool for detailed cloud-aerosol investigations. This consists of the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF; Skamarock et al., 2008) coupled with PMCAMx-UF (Patoulias et al. 2022). PMCAMx-UF is a three-dimensional chemical transport model with a high-resolution sectional bin aerosol approach. The aerosol fields predicted by PMCAMx-UF are used to update the cloud droplet and ice number predictions in the Morrison et al. (2005) microphysics scheme in the WRF atmospheric component. To evaluate the impact of this coupling, we compare the cloud, precipitation and radiation patterns predicted by WRF-PMCAMx over Europe to the diagnostic fields produced by the standard Morrison scheme in the open-source WRF code.

REFERENCES:

Morrison, H., Curry, J.A., and Khvorostyanov, V.I.: A New Double-Moment Microphysics Parameterization for Application in Cloud and Climate Models. Part I: Description, Atmos. Sci., 62, 3683-3704 62, 2005 

Patoulias, D. and Pandis, S. N.: Simulation of the effects of low-volatility organic compounds on aerosol number concentrations in Europe. Atmos, Chem Phys., 22, 1689-1706, 2022.

Skamarock, W. C., Klemp, J. B., Dudhia, J., Gill, D. O., Barker, D., Duda, M. G., … Powers, J. G.: A Description of the Advanced Research WRF Version 3 (No. NCAR/TN-475+STR). University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. doi:10.5065/D68S4MVH, 2008

* This study is supported by the H2020-EU.1.3.- EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Actions project SIMPHAC (ID 8985685)

 

How to cite: Sotiropoulou, G., Patoulias, D., Pandis, S., and Nenes, A.: WRF-PMCAMx: a mesoscale model for cloud-aerosol interaction studies, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-11682, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-11682, 2023.