A Comparative Study of Various Parameterizations of the Planetary Boundary Layer in a Numerical Mesoscale Model

Abstract

Various parameterizations of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) currently used in three-dimensional (3D) mesoscale models are compared with a more complex scheme including a turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) equation. In the first set of simulations made with a ID model against the classical Wangara data, the mean wind, temperature and moisture calculated in the PBL are nearly insensitive to the choice of the parameterization. In the second set of simulations, the TKE parameterization is used in a 3D mesoscale model to simulate sea breeze flows over south Florida. A comparison is presented with previous simulations of Pielke, and Pielke and Mahrer, for the mean flow, and with the third-order turbulence closure model of Brière for the turbulent variables, including a discussion of the turbulent energy budget, The analysis of the results obtained with the TKE scheme shows that the predicted turbulent fields are qualitatively realistic and interact significantly with the sea breeze circulation. Finally, a comparison is made between the TKE scheme and the simpler parameterization of Pielke and Mahrer. It shows only slight differences as far as the mesoscale structure of the mean variables is concerned.