Comparative Analysis of the Planetary Boundary Layer during the PECAN campaign, using the WRF model for Low-Level Jets event

The Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL), the lowermost region of the troposphere closely connected to the Earth’s surface, wields a profound influence over air pollution dispersion, climate dynamics, and human well-being. Understanding the structure and evolution of the PBL holds paramount importance for grasping critical aspects such as moisture transport, aviation safety, heat islands, and weather patterns. However, accurately predicting and comprehending PBL behavior remains a persistent challenge. This study presents a comparative analysis of the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) during the Plains Elevated Convection At Night (PECAN) field campaign, utilizing the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model with different parameterization schemes. PECAN offers a unique set of intensive field observations, including several low-level jet events, enabling a robust evaluation of WRF parameterization schemes and microphysics in addition to performance in simulating the PBL height, which provides insight into the interplay between the Boundary Layer and LLJ events. Numerical modeling of the PBL height is controlled by atmospheric variables like temperature, humidity, and wind speed, therefore this study also synchronizes field measurements and the WRF model to replicate a more realistic PBL. The purpose of our study is to improve the accuracy of numerical modeling and PBL height observing systems, as well as to establish the relationship between the heterogeneity of the PBL with the LLJ events. Our result show, the peak height of the model’s PBL is reached significantly earlier than the observed PBL height during certain LLJ events.