Can Different NWP Dynamical Cores Share a Common Physics Package?

Over the last several years the development of next generation NWP systems has motivated an effort to create a common parameterization interface to allow different dynamical cores to share similar physics packages. While conceptually straightforward, the details of implementing a common physics package will depend strongly on model numerics, the computational grid, and the way in which the physics are coupled with the dynamics. In this talk we will highlight challenges associated with coupling community physics packages to different model grids and model numerics. First, we will use an idealized single column of a model framework to explore how different vertical grid distributions project onto physical parameterizations. We will use the single column model to explore different ways to map between the dynamics and physics grid. We will quantify the solution sensitivity to the details of the coupling between the single dynamics and physics. Second, we will discuss the implementation of a common community physics package into the Navy’s next generation spectral element NWP system, NEPTUNE. We will highlight challenges associated with implementing the common physics into the three-dimensional spectral element dynamical core. We will present statistics from real-data simulations highlighting the sensitivity of different physics-dynamics coupling configurations.