WRF Sensitivity Analysis in Wind and Temperature Fields Simulation for the Northern Sahara and the Mediterranean Basin

Abstract

Different configurations for the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model were evaluated to improve wind and temperature fields predictions in the Northern Sahara and the Mediterranean basin. Eight setups, associated with different combinations of the surface layer physical parameters, the land surface model, and the grid nudging parameters, were considered. Numerical simulations covered the entire month of November 2017. Model results were compared with surface data from meteorological stations. The introduction of the grid nudging parameters leads to a general improvement of the modeled 10 m wind speed and 2 m temperature. In particular, nudging of wind speed parameter inside the planetary boundary layer (PBL) provides the most remarkable differences. In contrast, the nudging of temperature and relative humidity parameters inside the PBL may be switched off to reduce computational time and data storage. Furthermore, it was shown that the prediction of the 10 m wind speed and 2 m temperature is quite sensitive to the choice of the surface layer scheme and the land surface model. This paper provides useful suggestions to improve the setup of the WRF model in the Northern Sahara and the Mediterranean basin. These results are also relevant for topics related with the emission of mineral dust and sea spray within the Mediterranean region.

A Preliminary Investigation on the Statistical Correlations between SARS-CoV-2 Spread and Local Meteorology

“…four cities for each province, collecting a total number of 24 points (Figure 1). The physical parameterization of the WRF model for this domain was set following Rizza et al [31]. For each province, the average of such values were calculated as arithmetic means, resulting in single daily values to be compared with the daily mean values measured at the monitoring stations of the respective capitals (Table 2).…”

“…The simulated daily mean temperature and relative humidity were evaluated in at least four cities for each province, collecting a total number of 24 points (Figure 1). The physical parameterization of the WRF model for this domain was set following Rizza et al [31].…”

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“…This configuration has been already successfully tested by Rizza et al [47] and well suited for the study of transport of natural aerosols in the Mediterranean basin.…”

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