Evaluation of Rain Microphysics Using a Radar Simulator and Numerical Models: Comparison of Two‐Moment Bulk and Spectral Bin Cloud Microphysics Schemes

Abstract

Abstract This study extended a method to evaluate rain microphysics in a shallow cumulus regime using space‐borne radar observational data with a forward simulator of satellite measurements. We compared a two‐moment bulk scheme with a two‐moment bin scheme. A dynamic‐kinematic model was used to isolate cloud microphysics processes from their interactions with dynamics. The relationship between horizontally averaged reflectivity Zm and optical depth from the cloud top τd, that is, the Zm‐τd relationship, was similar between the bulk and the bin schemes for clouds with large updraft velocity and clean cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). However, the differences in the Zm‐τd relationship between the two schemes became more apparent for clouds with smaller updraft velocity or polluted CCN. For these clouds, the differences resulted from differences in the autoconversion rate. We increased the autoconversion rate by decreasing the shape parameter of the cloud droplet size distribution in the bulk scheme. This reduced the differences in the Zm‐τd relationship between the two schemes, indicating that for these clouds, the autoconversion rate of a cloud microphysics scheme can be evaluated by the Zm‐τd relationship derived from satellite observations. Although the clouds with the smaller updraft velocity or the polluted CCN did not contribute to the rainfall amount significantly, the lifetime of these clouds greatly affected the radiation budget. Thus, the improvement in the autoconversion rate for such weak cumulus clouds provides a better representation of precipitation efficiency and is important for global climate evaluations.

Keywords

• cloud microphysics scheme
• cloud droplet size distribution
• satellite simulator
• radar reflectivity
• accretion process
• autoconversion process