Quantifying the Resolution Sensitivity of the Kain–Fritsch Scheme Across the Gray Zone by Isolating Interactions: A TWP-ICE Case Study

Ling Zuo; Lijuan Li; William I. Gustafson; Liping Luo; Yimin Liu; Bin Wang; Yan Nie; Feng Xie; He Wang

doi:10.1029/2024MS004604

Quantifying the Resolution Sensitivity of the Kain–Fritsch Scheme Across the Gray Zone by Isolating Interactions: A TWP-ICE Case Study

Ling Zuo
, Lijuan Li
, William I. Gustafson
, Liping Luo
, Yimin Liu
, Bin Wang
, Yan Nie
, Feng Xie
, He Wang

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

The resolution sensitivity of the Kain–Fritsch (KF) convection scheme and the role of interactions between the physics and dynamics within the gray zone (<10 km) were investigated using the Separate Physics and Dynamics Experiment (SPADE) framework. Two groups of experiments were conducted using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model via traditional (Tradition) runs and SPADE runs with resolutions of 1, 2, 4, and 8 km during the wet period of the Tropical Warm Pool–International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE). Results show that the KF scheme simulates the weakened convective processes well as the resolution increases in both groups, and the changes in the convective variables with resolution in SPADE are smaller than in the Tradition group. This indicates the important effects of interactions between model components on convection parameterizations as the resolution changes. Additionally, the microphysics variables remain nearly unchanged with resolution in SPADE and weaken slightly in Tradition as the resolution decreases, suggesting the relatively weaker influences of model interactions for the resolved-cloud parameterization. Therefore, the scale-aware behavior of KF scheme is further strengthened in Tradition runs, primarily through inhibiting the strength of stratiform processes through physics–dynamics interactions and physical components.

Original language	English
Article number	e2024MS004604
Journal	Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems
Volume	17
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2024MS004604
State	Published - May 2025
Externally published	Yes

Funding

This research was jointly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 42288101 and 42230606), the National Key Research Project (Grant 2022YFC3104804), and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant XDB42010404). Portions of the work were performed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)—Battelle Memorial Institute operates PNNL under contract DEAC05-76RL01830. Parts of this research were funded by the Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province (Grant 2108085QD183). The experiments were performed on supercomputers provided by the Earth System Science Numerical Simulator Facility (EarthLab). We sincerely thank the anonymous reviewers and the editors for their meticulous work and insightful suggestions, which have significantly enhanced the quality of this paper. This research was jointly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 42288101 and 42230606), the National Key Research Project (Grant 2022YFC3104804), and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant XDB42010404). Portions of the work were performed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)—Battelle Memorial Institute operates PNNL under contract DEAC05‐76RL01830. Parts of this research were funded by the Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province (Grant 2108085QD183). The experiments were performed on supercomputers provided by the Earth System Science Numerical Simulator Facility (EarthLab). We sincerely thank the anonymous reviewers and the editors for their meticulous work and insightful suggestions, which have significantly enhanced the quality of this paper.

Keywords

Kain-Fritsch scheme
gray zone
physics-dynamics interactions
resolution sensitivity

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10.1029/2024MS004604

Cite this

@article{7186ba6c649d4472932da9d003c64045,

title = "Quantifying the Resolution Sensitivity of the Kain–Fritsch Scheme Across the Gray Zone by Isolating Interactions: A TWP-ICE Case Study",

abstract = "The resolution sensitivity of the Kain–Fritsch (KF) convection scheme and the role of interactions between the physics and dynamics within the gray zone (<10 km) were investigated using the Separate Physics and Dynamics Experiment (SPADE) framework. Two groups of experiments were conducted using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model via traditional (Tradition) runs and SPADE runs with resolutions of 1, 2, 4, and 8 km during the wet period of the Tropical Warm Pool–International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE). Results show that the KF scheme simulates the weakened convective processes well as the resolution increases in both groups, and the changes in the convective variables with resolution in SPADE are smaller than in the Tradition group. This indicates the important effects of interactions between model components on convection parameterizations as the resolution changes. Additionally, the microphysics variables remain nearly unchanged with resolution in SPADE and weaken slightly in Tradition as the resolution decreases, suggesting the relatively weaker influences of model interactions for the resolved-cloud parameterization. Therefore, the scale-aware behavior of KF scheme is further strengthened in Tradition runs, primarily through inhibiting the strength of stratiform processes through physics–dynamics interactions and physical components.",

keywords = "Kain-Fritsch scheme, gray zone, physics-dynamics interactions, resolution sensitivity",

author = "Ling Zuo and Lijuan Li and Gustafson, \{William I.\} and Liping Luo and Yimin Liu and Bin Wang and Yan Nie and Feng Xie and He Wang",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s). Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Geophysical Union.",

year = "2025",

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AU - Li, Lijuan

AU - Gustafson, William I.

AU - Luo, Liping

AU - Liu, Yimin

AU - Wang, Bin

AU - Nie, Yan

AU - Xie, Feng

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N2 - The resolution sensitivity of the Kain–Fritsch (KF) convection scheme and the role of interactions between the physics and dynamics within the gray zone (<10 km) were investigated using the Separate Physics and Dynamics Experiment (SPADE) framework. Two groups of experiments were conducted using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model via traditional (Tradition) runs and SPADE runs with resolutions of 1, 2, 4, and 8 km during the wet period of the Tropical Warm Pool–International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE). Results show that the KF scheme simulates the weakened convective processes well as the resolution increases in both groups, and the changes in the convective variables with resolution in SPADE are smaller than in the Tradition group. This indicates the important effects of interactions between model components on convection parameterizations as the resolution changes. Additionally, the microphysics variables remain nearly unchanged with resolution in SPADE and weaken slightly in Tradition as the resolution decreases, suggesting the relatively weaker influences of model interactions for the resolved-cloud parameterization. Therefore, the scale-aware behavior of KF scheme is further strengthened in Tradition runs, primarily through inhibiting the strength of stratiform processes through physics–dynamics interactions and physical components.

AB - The resolution sensitivity of the Kain–Fritsch (KF) convection scheme and the role of interactions between the physics and dynamics within the gray zone (<10 km) were investigated using the Separate Physics and Dynamics Experiment (SPADE) framework. Two groups of experiments were conducted using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model via traditional (Tradition) runs and SPADE runs with resolutions of 1, 2, 4, and 8 km during the wet period of the Tropical Warm Pool–International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE). Results show that the KF scheme simulates the weakened convective processes well as the resolution increases in both groups, and the changes in the convective variables with resolution in SPADE are smaller than in the Tradition group. This indicates the important effects of interactions between model components on convection parameterizations as the resolution changes. Additionally, the microphysics variables remain nearly unchanged with resolution in SPADE and weaken slightly in Tradition as the resolution decreases, suggesting the relatively weaker influences of model interactions for the resolved-cloud parameterization. Therefore, the scale-aware behavior of KF scheme is further strengthened in Tradition runs, primarily through inhibiting the strength of stratiform processes through physics–dynamics interactions and physical components.

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KW - physics-dynamics interactions

KW - resolution sensitivity

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105005947984

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DO - 10.1029/2024MS004604

M3 - Article

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VL - 17

JO - Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems

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ER -

Quantifying the Resolution Sensitivity of the Kain–Fritsch Scheme Across the Gray Zone by Isolating Interactions: A TWP-ICE Case Study

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

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