Assessment of WRF skills in simulating diurnal rainfall and PBL height over the northwest Himalayan region

We investigate the competency of the WeatherResearch&Forecasting (WRF) model in simulating the diurnal patterns of planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) and rainfall over the complex topography of North-West Himalayan region(NWH). Archives from model experiments corresponding to cumulus parameterization schemes KF and MSKF respectively have been used in the present study. Model experiments are able to resolve diurnal cycle of PBLH with respect to the reference data; however, underestimation in diurnal patterns of rainfall (-3mm to -5 mm) as well as in RMSE (16mm-20mm) during 0000 UTC (0530 IST) indicates inability of model in simulating early morning hours rainfall. A detailed orographic analysis shows differences in the PBL patterns in the experiments configured with the same PBL scheme, suggesting possible interactions between the cumulus and PBL parameterization schemes. Results obtained in the present study emphasize on the necessities of the improved model simulations to understand dominating atmospheric processes in NWH region.