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Chaboureau et al. 2002
Chaboureau, J., Cammas, J., Mascart, P.J., Pinty, J. and Lafore, J. (2002). Mesoscale model cloud scheme assessment using satellite observations. Journal of Geophysical Research 107. doi: 10.1029/2001JD000714. issn: 0148-0227.

An exploratory evaluation of the explicit cloud scheme of the mesoscale nonhydrostatic (Meso-NH) model has been conducted by comparing synthetic METEOSAT brightness temperatures (BT) to the observed ones. Three different meteorological situations are examined to illustrate the expected degree of accuracy in simulating realistic synthetic BTs in the midlatitude and in the subtropics, with a horizontal grid length ranging from 75 to 12 km. It is shown that the model to satellite approach, which combines the output from a bulk explicit cloud scheme routinely used in mesoscale simulations with a detailed radiative transfer code, offers the possibility of tuning a critical parameter. For instance, tests made with three different values of an ice to snow autoconversion threshold reveal a profound impact on the synthetic BT maps which results in unbiased differences with satellite observations when the appropriate value is selected. The main discrepancies that remain are partly due to errors in the vertical or horizontal placement of the cloud layer or in the amount of condensates, but also due to the lack of subgrid-scale cloudiness in the model. A similar test conducted on the ice water and the liquid water paths confirms the fairly good agreement with retrievals from microwave observations. The paper concludes by discussing the need not only to extend the model to satellite approach to other well-documented cases but also to derive diagnostics from deep convection scheme characteristics in order to include the radiative effect of the convective towers in the generation of synthetic BT maps.

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Abstract

Keywords
Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics, Mesoscale meteorology, Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics, Remote sensing, Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics, Precipitation, Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Cloud physics and chemistry
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research
http://www.agu.org/journals/jb/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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