WRF-Chem Modeling Studies of Asian Dust and Orographic Precipitation in California

Recent observational studies have shown that dust and biological aerosols from the Sahara and Asia influence precipitation in the Western United States. This current study is aimed to future investigate the possible impacts from Asian dust associated with atmospheric rivers (AR) in terms of orographic precipitation over California. The objectives of this study include: 1) to identify AR events over California with and without long-range transportation of Asia dust during wet seasons; 2) to validate the precipitation-related physical parameterization schemes in the high resolution WRF model performance over coastal mountain areas by using airborne and ground-based radar data, and ground measurements; and 3) using WRF-Chem model to elaborate on the role of dust and microphysics leading to those differences (if any) in precipitation. Both data analyses and modeling results will be presented. The ultimate goal of this study is to advance our scientific understanding of coastal mountain blocking and dust effects on rainfall distribution in high-resolution models and their impacts on water resources management in California.