Convection-Permitting Simulations of Precipitation over the Peruvian Central Andes: Strong Sensitivity to Planetary Boundary Layer Parameterization

Abstract

Regional climate dynamical downscaling at convection-permitting resolutions is now practical and has potential to significantly improve over coarser-resolution simulations, but the former is not necessarily free of systematic biases. Evaluation and optimization of model configurations are therefore important. Twelve simulations at a grid spacing of 3 km using the WRF model with different microphysics, planetary boundary layer (PBL), and land surface model (LSM) schemes are performed over the Peruvian Central Andes during austral summer, a region with particularly complex terrain. The simulated precipitation is evaluated using rain-gauge data and three gridded precipitation datasets. All simulations correctly capture four precipitation hotspots associated with prevailing winds and terrain features along the east slope of Andes, though they generally overestimate the precipitation intensity. The simulation using Thompson microphysics, ACM2 PBL and Noah LSM schemes has the smallest bias. The simulated precipitation is most sensitive to PBL, secondly sensitive to microphysics and least sensitive to LSM schemes. The simulated precipitation is generally stronger in simulations using YSU than MYNN and ACM2 schemes. All simulations successfully capture the diurnal precipitation peak time mainly in the afternoon over the Peruvian Central Andes and in the early morning along its east slope. However, there are significant differences over the western Amazon Basin, where the precipitation peak occurs primarily in the late afternoon. Simulations using YSU exhibit a 4–8-hour delay in the precipitation peak over the western Amazon Basin, consistent with their stronger and more persistent low-level jets. These results provide guidance on the optimal configuration of dynamical downscaling of global climate projections for the Peruvian Central Andes.