I attended EMS2018 last week in Budapest, where I presented a talk on my on-going work with Conor and Emily Gleeson from Met Éireann. The talk was titled “An Evaluation of Integrated Cloud Condensate in the HARMONIE-AROME NWP Model” as part of the session on cloud-aerosol-radiation interactions.
I used MÉRA for the data and examined the vertically integrated cloud water (ICW) and the vertically integrated cloud ice (ICI). I investigated the model spin-up and found that for both variables the model requires time to spin-up and therefore for the remainder of my project I used the forecast with a long lead time for the hours between 01 UTC and 09 UTC.
I also compared the MÉRA data to a satellite dataset – KMNI MSGCPP Condensed Water Path (CWP; CWP=ICW + ICI). There is generally good agreement between the satellite and MÉRA CWP. However, in summer the error is large and MÉRA tends to produce too much CWP.
I also looked at some individual case studies in which initial results suggest the error might be related to cloud type. Initial analysis suggests fronts may overestimate CWP and CWP may be underestimated for convection.