Evaluation of the Predicted Particle Properties (P3) Microphysics Scheme in Simulations of Stratiform Clouds with Embedded Convection

To evaluate the ability of the Predicted Particle Properties(P3)scheme in the Weather Research and Forecasting(WRF)model,we simulated a stratiform rainfall event over northern China on 22 May 2017.WRF simulations with two P3 versions,P3-nc and P3-2ice,were evaluated against rain gauge,radar,and aircraft observations.A series of sensitivity experiments were conducted with different collection efficiencies between ice and cloud droplets.The comparison of the precipitation evolution between P3-nc and P3-2ice suggested that both P3 versions overpredicted surface precipitation along the Taihang Mountains but underpredicted precipitation in the localized region on the leeward side.P3-2ice had slightly lower peak precipitation rates and smaller total precipitation amounts than P3-nc,which were closer to the observations.P3-2ice also more realistically reproduced the overall reflectivity structures than P3-nc.A comparison of ice concentrations with observations indicated that P3-nc underestimated aggregation,whereas P3-2ice produced more active aggregation from the self-collection of ice and ice-ice collisions between categories.Efficient aggregation in P3-2ice resulted in lower ice concentrations at heights between 4 and 6 km,which was closer to the observations.In this case,the total precipitation and precipitation pattern were not sensitive to riming.Riming was important in reproducing the location and strength of the embedded convective region through its impact on ice mass flux above the melting level.