An Evaluation of Common Community Physics Package (CCPP) Physics Suites Across Scales

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is evolving towards a unified modeling suite across both spatial and temporal scales. To achieve this goal, the Unified Forecast System (UFS) will be moving towards determining a single physics suite aimed to advance forecast skill across a broad range of scales. The Developmental Testbed Center (DTC)’s Global Model Test Bed (GMTB) project has developed the Common Community Physics Package (CCPP), which will aid in accelerating the transition of new physics innovations into operations. This presentation will provide a baseline assessment of the scalability of two different operational physics suites, available within the CCPP, using the Finite-Volume Cubed-Sphere (FV3) stand-alone regional (SAR) system. The operational FV3 Global Forecast System (FV3GFS) and the Rapid Refresh (RAP)/High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) physics suites were developed for global and regional applications, respectively. These suites will be exercised for three horizontal grid resolutions used for convection permitting, global and seasonal scales (3-, 13-, and 25-km). Of particular interest is the behavior of scale-aware schemes across the various scales for improving the understanding of the scale-aware properties. Various high-impact weather events will be simulated, including severe weather and tropical cyclone cases. Similarities and differences in performance will be investigated using a suite of traditional and process-based verification and diagnostics.