Implementation of the Arakawa-Schubert Cumulus Parameterization with a Prognostic Closure

Abstract

The cumulus parameterization of Arakawa and Schubert (1974, hereafter referred to as A-S), as implemented by Lord et al. (1982), is currently being used in a number of general circulation models (GCMs) including those at the University of California, Los Angeles, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Numerical Weather Prediction Center, the Japanese Meteorological Research Institute, and Colorado State University (CSU). Its strengths and weaknesses are well documented in the literature on the basis of many observational and numerical studies, some of which are mentioned below.