Second phase of the Grey Zone Project
A second phase of the Grey Zone Project has been proposed based on the EUREC4A and the GATE field campaigns.
A second phase of the Grey Zone Project has been proposed in a WGNE/GASS White Paper. It is envisaged to consist of two parts: one part which focusses on shallow convection over the western tropical Atlantic based on the EUREC4A observational campaign, and one which concentrates on deep convection and shallow to deep transitions over the eastern tropical Atlantic based on GATE.
The EUREC4A field campaign took place between 20th January and 20th February 2020 east of Barbados over the western tropical Atlantic. The field study investigates how shallow cumulus clouds respond to changes in the large-scale environment, and examines the factors controlling shallow-convective aggregation.
The Global Atmospheric Research Program's Atlantic Tropical Experiment (GATE) was conducted in the summer of 1974 and was one of the largest and most comprehensive meteorological field campaigns in history. The central objective of GATE was to understand the scale interactions between convection and the large-scale atmospheric circulation, and to elucidate the mechanisms of deep-convective organisation. Phase III of GATE took place over the eastern tropical Atlantic and covered the period from 30th August to 18th September 1974.
Questions
The second phase of the Grey Zone Project plans to address the following questions:
- In what way do model resolution and scale-aware convection and turbulence schemes impact the representation of the interaction between convection and circulation?
- In what way do model resolution and different formulations of scale-aware model physics determine the representation of convective organisation?
- What is the effect of the representation of convective organisation on vertical transport of heat, moisture, and momentum?
- Are there new challenges to the coupling between turbulence scheme and convection parameterisation in the grey zone?
- How can the effective resolution of a model be determined? What is the impact of model numerics on the characteristics of convective structures? How can small-scale variability be distinguished from numerical noise?
- How can the resolution-dependent probability distributions of resolved and unresolved vertical velocities and cloud-base mass flux be characterised?
Part I. EUREC4A-GreyZone
The period of the main EUREC4A field campaign is proposed to be covered by several 2-day simulations. Model simulations will be performed with grid lengths of order O(5km), O(1km), and O(100m). Global models, limited area models, and large-eddy models in limited area model setups are invited to participate. The protocol specifies 5 initialisation times for 2-day runs, and definitions of domains for limited area model simulations. Additional sensitivity experiments can be conducted in order to elucidate specific aspects of the grey zone issue.
The EUREC4A field campaign took place in February of 2020. The different suggested cases correspond to different forms of shallow convective organisation and different synoptic conditions. Each case covers one specific day for which good observational data are available, namely: January 24, 2020, and February 2, 2020, and February 5, 2020, and February 7, 2020, and February 9, 2020. The experimental protocol is detailed in the EUREC4A-GreyZone experimental protocol version 2 document.
First results from test simulations, and other aspects of the Grey Zone Project, were discussed at informal preparatory side meetings at the UCP2019 conference in Berlin in February 2019, at the ParaCon Convection Workshop 2019 at the Met Office in Exeter in July 2019, and at the conference on Improvement and calibration of clouds in models in Toulouse, France, in April 2021.
Related to the experimental protocol described in the linked document above, there are currently plans for a corresponding Lagrangian LES case (contact Peter Blossey at [email protected] or Steef Boeing at [email protected]) as well as a single column model case (contact Roel Neggers at [email protected]).
Part II. Grey Zone Vintage: GATE revisited
The period of phase III of GATE will be covered by several 5-day forecasts. Model simulations will be performed with grid lengths of order O(5km), O(1km), and O(100m). Global models, limited area models, and large-eddy models in limited area model setups are invited to participate. Initial conditions and lateral boundary conditions will be provided by ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis (available by mid 2020). Additional sensitivity experiments will be proposed in order to elucidate specific aspects of the grey zone issue.
Initially every participating group will store their data at their institution, but a list of required output variables will be provided in order to facilitate cross-model analysis.
Scientific committee
The Scientific Committee of the second phase of the Grey Zone Project:
Lorenzo Tomassini, Rachel Honnert, George Efstathiou, Adrian Lock, Stephan de Roode, Pier Siebesma