A sea breeze rainfall model

Resumen

A numerical model for studying the development of sea breeze rainfall in the vicinity of a straight coastline is described. The model is based on the time-dependent primitive equations. The model is able to describe explicitly the formation of rain and its subsequent space and time variations. The description is done by incorporating a prediction equation for rain water which is derived through a parameterization of cloud microphysical processes. An initial test of the model is done by simulating the sea breeze rainfall for a case of no prevailing flow during the rainy season in the tropics. In general, the simulation reproduces the observed characteristics of sea breeze rainfall. The sensitivity of the model to the cloud microphysical parameterization constants associated with autoconversion and accretion is investigated by means of numerical experiments. The experiments show that the rainfall is relatively insensitive to the autoconversion model constants but quite sensitive to the accretion constant.