The Brazilian developments on the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (BRAMS 5.2): an integrated environmental model tuned for tropical areas

Abstract

Abstract. We present a new version of the Brazilian developments on the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (BRAMS), in which different previous versions for weather, chemistry, and carbon cycle were unified in a single integrated modeling system software. This new version also has a new set of state-of-the-art physical parameterizations and greater computational parallel and memory usage efficiency. The description of the main model features includes several examples illustrating the quality of the transport scheme for scalars, radiative fluxes on surface, and model simulation of rainfall systems over South America at different spatial resolutions using a scale aware convective parameterization. Additionally, the simulation of the diurnal cycle of the convection and carbon dioxide concentration over the Amazon Basin, as well as carbon dioxide fluxes from biogenic processes over a large portion of South America, are shown. Atmospheric chemistry examples show the model performance in simulating near-surface carbon monoxide and ozone in the Amazon Basin and the megacity of Rio de Janeiro. For tracer transport and dispersion, the model capabilities to simulate the volcanic ash 3-D redistribution associated with the eruption of a Chilean volcano are demonstrated. The gain of computational efficiency is described in some detail. BRAMS has been applied for research and operational forecasting mainly in South America. Model results from the operational weather forecast of BRAMS on 5 km grid spacing in the Center for Weather Forecasting and Climate Studies, INPE/Brazil, since 2013 are used to quantify the model skill of near-surface variables and rainfall. The scores show the reliability of BRAMS for the tropical and subtropical areas of South America. Requirements for keeping this modeling system competitive regarding both its functionalities and skills are discussed. Finally, we highlight the relevant contribution of this work to building a South American community of model developers.

Modeling the radiative effects of biomass burning aerosols on carbon fluxes in the Amazon region

“…Consistent with previous studies (Freitas et al, 2005(Freitas et al, , 2017Longo et al, 2010Longo et al, , 2013Rosário et al, 2013;Moreira et al, 2013), BRAMS performed well while modeling the meteorology and aerosol biomass burning emission, transport, and removal processes in Amazonia, which has resulted in accurate simulation of the major features of AOD variability associated with the regional biomass burning plume over South America. The model results for surface temperature, rainfall, and AOD were once again in agreement with observations for the 2010 dry season case study, representing the main characteristics of the spatial distribution and the diurnal cycle of temperature and precipitation.…”

“…In this work, we employed the integrated atmosphericchemistry model BRAMS version 5.0 (Brazilian developments on the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System; Freitas et al, 2005Freitas et al, , 2009Freitas et al, , 2017, which has been coupled in a two-way mode with the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator v3.0 (JULES), the land surface scheme of the UK Hadley Centre Earth System Model, as described in Moreira et al (2013). The coupling is two-way in the sense that, for each model time step, the atmospheric component provides to JULES the current near-surface wind speed, air temperature, pressure, condensed water and downward radiation fluxes, and water vapor and carbon dioxide mixing ratios.…”

Implementation of Observed Sky-View Factor in a Mesoscale Model for Sensitivity Studies of the Urban Meteorology

“…To study the effects of the implementation of SVF to represent urban morphology on mesoscale models, the BRAMS model (Brazilian Developments on the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System [35,36]) was used. The code and users guide of all versions of the model are available on the BRAMS website (http://brams.cptec.inpe.br).…”

Overview: Precipitation characteristics and sensitivities to environmental conditions during GoAmazon2014/5 and ACRIDICON-CHUVA

“…Although the seasonal variability in the average convective available potential energy (CAPE) is small, the tail of the CAPE seasonal distribution (computed as the surface parcel) exhibits relatively higher values during the dry to wet season transition than during the wet season (Williams et al, 2002). During the dry season, the aerosols produced by biomass burning in central South America impact a larger area, reaching the tropical Pacific, subtropical South America, and the South Atlantic Freitas et al, 2005Freitas et al, , 2017Camponogara et al, 2014).…”