Performance of Flash Rate Parameterization Schemes in the WRF Model during the DC3 Field Campaign

The Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry (DC3) field campaign provided an opportunity to use flash rate parameterization schemes (FRPSs) to predict total lightning flashes in an operational setting with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The FRPSs use storm parameters to estimate the total number of lightning flashes that occur within a convective cell. The three FRPSs implemented in the DC3 campaign were based on updraft volume, cloud top height, and maximum vertical velocity. Lightning data from the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) were used in evaluating the FRPSs in WRF for 17 convective events between 18 May and 28 June 2012 in northeast Colorado, central Oklahoma, west Texas, and northern Alabama. A temporal and spatial analysis was conducted between the observed and modeled total lightning flashes. The comparison indicates how well the schemes predicted the timing, location, and number of lightning flashes during the campaign and also identifies the FRPS(s) that performed best in different types of convection (e.g., shear-driven vs. airmass thunderstorms).