TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluating an Ice Crystal Trajectory Growth (ICTG) Model on a Quasi-Idealized Simulation of a Squall Line
AU - Laurencin, Chelsey N.
AU - Didlake, Anthony C.
AU - Harrington, Jerry Y.
AU - Jensen, Anders A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Geophysical Union.
PY - 2022/4
Y1 - 2022/4
N2 - A major challenge in numerical weather prediction models is the ability to accurately simulate the microphysical properties and growth of ice hydrometeors in clouds. Eulerian bulk microphysics schemes in these models tend to obscure the properties and evolution of individual ice crystals, often resulting in inaccurate simulations of storm structures. To address this issue, this study presents a novel ice crystal trajectory growth (ICTG) model that simultaneously grows and advects individual ice crystals while tracking their evolving properties along their trajectories. The model is evaluated on a 3D quasi-idealized leading-convective, trailing-stratiform squall line simulation. The ICTG model successfully produced a spatial distribution of ice crystal trajectories consistent with the simulated reflectivity structure of the storm above the melting level. Smaller initialized crystals (d ≤ 0.1 mm) were largely transported to the anvil and the trailing stratiform region. One primary trajectory involved sustained growth in the stratiform mesoscale updraft for ∼1.5 hr, resulting in a density reduction down to 600 kg m−3, a final particle size greater than 0.9 mm, and potential branching. In contrast, larger initialized crystals (d ≥ 0.5 mm) collected more rime and fell out primarily in the leading convective line. The ICTG model's realistic production of varied crystal growth properties owing to differences in transport and initial size suggests that it can be a valuable tool for learning about ice microphysical processes in a variety of cold cloud systems.
AB - A major challenge in numerical weather prediction models is the ability to accurately simulate the microphysical properties and growth of ice hydrometeors in clouds. Eulerian bulk microphysics schemes in these models tend to obscure the properties and evolution of individual ice crystals, often resulting in inaccurate simulations of storm structures. To address this issue, this study presents a novel ice crystal trajectory growth (ICTG) model that simultaneously grows and advects individual ice crystals while tracking their evolving properties along their trajectories. The model is evaluated on a 3D quasi-idealized leading-convective, trailing-stratiform squall line simulation. The ICTG model successfully produced a spatial distribution of ice crystal trajectories consistent with the simulated reflectivity structure of the storm above the melting level. Smaller initialized crystals (d ≤ 0.1 mm) were largely transported to the anvil and the trailing stratiform region. One primary trajectory involved sustained growth in the stratiform mesoscale updraft for ∼1.5 hr, resulting in a density reduction down to 600 kg m−3, a final particle size greater than 0.9 mm, and potential branching. In contrast, larger initialized crystals (d ≥ 0.5 mm) collected more rime and fell out primarily in the leading convective line. The ICTG model's realistic production of varied crystal growth properties owing to differences in transport and initial size suggests that it can be a valuable tool for learning about ice microphysical processes in a variety of cold cloud systems.
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U2 - 10.1029/2021MS002764
DO - 10.1029/2021MS002764
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85128759877
SN - 1942-2466
VL - 14
JO - Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems
JF - Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems
IS - 4
M1 - e2021MS002764
ER -