Comparative study of bin and bulk microphysical schemes in simulating a heavy snowfall event that occurred in Beijing during the 2022 Winter Olympic Games

Abstract

A heavy snowfall event that struck Beijing during February 12-13, 2022, affected some of the training sessions and events of the Winter Olympic Games. This heavy snowfall event was simulated using the Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting Model with both the two-moment bulk scheme (BULK) and the spectral bin microphysics scheme (BIN), and the differences in surface precipitation, radar reflectivity, and cloud microphysics processes were compared and analyzed. It was found that surface precipitation was dominated by solid precipitation particles. The 24-h accumulated precipitation of the BULK simulation was larger than that of the BIN simulation, but both were smaller than that observed. The BIN simulation was closer to the observations in terms of the trends of variation in precipitation rate and radar reflectivity during the period of heavy precipitation. The maximum and minimum vertical velocities of the BIN simulation were notably higher than those of the BULK simulation, and the water vapor content of the BIN scheme at the heights of the −10 to −20°C levels and above the −38°C level was substantially higher than that of the BULK scheme. The contents of cloud water and snow simulated by the BIN scheme were much higher than those simulated by the BULK scheme. The nucleation of ice crystals in the middle and high layers of the BULK scheme was obvious, whereas such a process was not evident in the BIN scheme. The net production rate of ice crystals and snow simulated by the BULK scheme was stronger near the surface than that simulated by the BIN scheme, and a second peak in the conversion rate existed at heights very close to the surface below 1 km, which might account for the greater intensity of precipitation in the BULK scheme. The latent heat simulated by the BULK scheme was larger (smaller) than that simulated by the BIN scheme below (above) the height of 2 km.