A PDF-Based Model for Boundary Layer Clouds. Part II: Model Results

Abstract

A new single-column model for the cloudy boundary layer, described in a companion paper, is tested for a variety of regimes. To represent the subgrid-scale variability, the model uses a joint probability density function (PDF) of vertical velocity, temperature, and moisture content. Results from four different cases are presented and contrasted with large eddy simulations (LES). The cases include a clear convective layer based on the Wangara experiment, a trade wind cumulus layer from the Barbados Oceanographic and Meteorological Experiment (BOMEX), a case of cumulus clouds over land, and a nocturnal marine stratocumulus boundary layer. Results from the Wangara experiment show that the model is capable of realistically predicting the diurnal growth of a dry convective layer. Compared to the LES, the layer produced is slightly less well mixed and entrainment is somewhat slower. The cloud cover in the cloudy cases varied widely, ranging from a few percent cloud cover to nearly overcast. In each of the cloudy cases, the parameterization predicted cloud fractions that agree reasonably well with the LES. Typically, cloud fraction values tended to be somewhat smaller in the parameterization, and cloud bases and tops were slightly underestimated. Liquid water content was generally within 40% of the LES-predicted values for a range of values spanning almost two orders of magnitude. This was accomplished without the use of any case-specific adjustments.