Subgrid-Scale Topographic Effects on Radiation for Global Weather Forecast Models

The incoming solar radiation arriving the Earth’s surface is strongly influenced by surface terrain. Conventional global weather forecast models, with grid scales of about 10 km, lack the resolution to accurately capture terrain-induced variations. We devised a new parameterization method to incorporate high-resolution subgrid-scale terrain data into grid-scale radiative flux calculations without averaging or smoothing topographic features. Utilizing a 15″ digital elevation model from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, we computed subgrid-scale data and transformed them onto the Korean Integrated Model’s cubed sphere grid using a Voronoi diagram to maintain geographical accuracy. The new scheme was initially evaluated through offline ideal tests and case studies. The results demonstrated that the scheme accurately captured the variations in downward shortwave flux, keeping the mean flux on a global scale nearly constant. The global mean flux difference in all skies was less than 0.01%. Statistical analyses demonstrated improved temperature and geopotential height predictions compared to reanalysis data. The anomaly correlation coefficient for East Asia at 850 hPa increased by 0.036 at 240 forecast hours. Overall, the anomaly correlation coefficient and root mean square error of geopotential height and temperature showed enhancements, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere and tropics. Importantly, the scheme introduces negligible additional memory and CPU requirements, making it suitable for both regional and global models. Only a 0.58% increase in CPU time was observed for the 10-day forecast.