Evaluation of different parameterization schemes in the WRF model for assessment of meteorological conditions over an industrial region in South-East India

The present study evaluates different physical parameterization schemes available in Weather Research and Forecasting model version 3.8 (WRF-ARW) over the Angul-Talcher region of Odisha state in India. Sensitivity analysis has been carried out for various schemes for planetary boundary layer, microphysics, and radiation in the WRF model, which have not been tested over this Indian region that often experiences extreme heat in summer (> 45 °C) as well as high air pollution. Performance evaluation is based on in situ observations of near-surface temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity during a representative case of peak summer conditions. It was inferred from analysis of several sets of simulations that the combination of GBM PBL scheme, Lin microphysics, and RRTMG radiation scheme performs better for near surface parameters such as temperature at 2 m (overall RMSE of 2.19 °C, in daytime and 2.06 °C in nighttime), relative humidity (RMSE: 20.65%), and wind in comparison to the rest of the combinations. Furthermore, the various schemes were also tested with observed vertical profile of wind speed, temperature, and heat fluxes, to arrive at the overall conclusions of this study.