ParaCon Parameterization Programme

ParaCon is a five-year programme joint between the Met Office and several UK universities, with the aim of significantly improving the representation of convection across model scales. A full range of model resolutions is envisaged, nominally from 1-100 km.

There are three different parameterization approaches being developed under the programme. (i) extended and generalized mass flux approaches, relaxing or removing traditional assumptions; (ii) approaches based on higher-order turbulence closures; and (iii) multi-fluid approaches.

Some links for this work:

Papers:

1. An article on the evaluation of CoMorph using a suite of idealised simulations
2. An article on the halo region around shallow cumulus clouds
3. An article on the evaluation of CoMorph using idealised coupled simulations
4. An article on the diurnal cycle of deep convection in the presence of surface heterogeneity
5. An article implementing a machine-learning-informed parameterization in WRF
6. An article on the composite structure of shallow cumulus
7. An article comparing the linear responses of convection schemes to tendency perurbations
8. An article on pressure drag in shallow convection
9. An article on convective memory in the diurnal cycle
10. An article evaluating mass flux assumptions with LES data
11. An article exploring the interactions between convective and stratiform clouds
12. An article on predicting the size distribution of convective cloud clusters
13. A discussion paper arising from a parameterization workshop

Talks:

1. A talk on memory in the diurnal cycle, given by Chimene Daleu at EGU.
2. A talk on pressure drag in shallow cumulus, given by Jian-Feng Gu at EGU.
3. A talk on compositing shallow cloud structures, given by Chris Holloway at EGU.
4. A talk on memory in the diurnal cycle, given by Chimene Daleu as part of the High-Tune conference.
5. A talk on pressure drag in shallow cumulus, given by Jian-Feng Gu at the High-Tune conference.
6. A talk on applying machine learning models to parameterization, given by Samson Hagos at the High-Tune conference.
7. A talk on linear response characteristics of convection scheme, given by Yi-Ling Hwong at the High-Tune conference.
8. A talk on representing convection in NWP, given online as part of the Royal Met Soc Masterclass series. A meeting report about the series was published in Weather.
9. An invited talk on progress within the ParaCon programme, given for the Weather and Climate Modelling Special Interest Group as part of the CHPC 2019 conference in Johannesburg.
10. A talk on the LES evaluation of the bulk mass flux approximation, given by Jian-Feng Gu at the CPCC convection parameterization conference in Exeter.
11. A talk on the diurnal cycle of deep convection, given by Chimene Daleu at the CPCC convection parameterization conference in Exeter.
12. A talk summarizing group discussions of challenges with the details of parameterization development, presented by Michael Whitall at the CPCC convection parameterization conference in Exeter.
13. A talk on the diurnal cycle of deep convection, given by Chimene Daleu at the UM Users Workshop.
14. A talk on what we are still learning from convective equilibrium simulations, given as an invited presentation at EGU.
15. A talk on modelling convective and stratiform cloud distributions, given by Samson Hagos at the 2019 AMS meeting in Phoenix.
16. A talk on modelling cloud size distributions, given by Samson Hagos at the 2018 Pan-GASS meeting in Melbourne.
17. An invited talk on boundary-layer based closures and scale dependence, given at a workshop on moist-convection boundary-layer coupling at Leeds.
18. An invited talk on regime transitions in GCMs, given at a workshop at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA.
19. An invited talk on parameterization in the grey zone, given at a JWCRP workshop in Dartington.

Posters:

1. A poster assessing the CoMorph closure, presented at the 6th WGNE conference on systematic errors in models.
2. A poster on evaluating CoMorph in idealised DGW simulations, presented (by Chimene Daleu) at the 6th WGNE conference on systematic errors in models.
3. A poster on the moist halo region around shallow cumulus, presented (by Chris Holloway) at the 6th WGNE conference on systematic errors in models.
4. A poster on evaluating CoMorph in idealised DGW simulations, presented (by Jian-Feng Gu) at the 6th WGNE conference on systematic errors in models.
5. A poster on modelling convective and stratiform cloud populations, presented at the MOAP Machine Learning for Nowcasting workshop.
6. A poster on applying machine learning models to parameterization, presented by Samson Hagos at the AGU fall meeting in San Francisco.
7. A poster on the linear response of LES and parameterizations to perturbed forcings, presented by Steve Sherwood at the AGU fall meeting in San Francisco.
8. A poster on the influence of surface inhomogenities on the diurnal cycle, presented by Natalie Harvey at the Convection Parametrization: Progress and Challenges workshop in Exeter.
9. A poster proposing a core-cloak representation for convective motions, given by Jian-Feng Gu at a 2019 meeting in Berlin.
10. A poster summarising the ParaCon work at Reading, given by Chris Holloway at a 2019 meeting in Berlin.
11. A poster on modelling cloud size distributions, given by Samson Hagos at the 2018 ARM/ASR meeting in Virginia.

Others:

1. Announcement of runners-up prize for the Environment theme ECR output of the year, awarded to Jian-Feng Gu in 2021.
2. A blog entry on the core-cloak representation of convection, written by Jian-Feng Gu in 2020.
3. A blog entry on the weather and climate of Cameroon, written by Chimene Daleu in 2020.
4. A blog entry on multi-fluid modelling, written by Hilary Weller in 2019.
4. D5scription of the ParaCon programme in the MOAP newsletter.