The differences in the concepts of two different parameterizations of cloud microphysics are analyzed. Simulations alternatively applying these parameterizations are performed for a Baltic heat cyclone event. The results of the simulations are compared to each other as well as to observed distributions of cloudiness and snowfall. The main differences between the simulated distributions result from the assumptions on ice, the ice classes, and size distributions of the cloud and precipitating particles. Both schemes succeeded in predicting the position and the main structure of the main cloud and snowfall fields. Nevertheless, the more convective type parameterization overestimates, while the other one underestimates snowfall. / Die Unterschiede in den Konzepten zweier unterschiedlicher Parametrisierungen der Wolkenmikrophysik werden analysiert. Die Ergebnisse der Simulationen werden miteinander und mit den beobachteten Wolken- und Schneeverteilungen für eine Baltische Wärmezyklone verglichen. Die wesentlichen Unterschiede in den berechneten Verteilungen resultieren aus den verschiedenen Annahmen über Wolkeneis, die Eisklassen und die Größenverteilungen der Wolken- und Niederschlagspartikel. Beide Schemata sagen die Position und die wesentlichen Strukturen der Wolken- und Schneeverteilungen erfolgreich vorher. Dennoch überschätzt das eher konvektive Schema den Schneefall, während das andere ihn unterschätzt.

The differences in the concepts of two different parameterizations of cloud microphysics are analyzed. Simulations alternatively applying these parameterizations are performed for a Baltic heat cyclone event. The results of the simulations are compared to each other as well as to observed distributions of cloudiness and snowfall. The main differences between the simulated distributions result from the assumptions on ice, the ice classes, and size distributions of the cloud and precipitating particles. Both schemes succeeded in predicting the position and the main structure of the main cloud and snowfall fields. Nevertheless, the more convective type parameterization overestimates, while the other one underestimates snowfall. / Die Unterschiede in den Konzepten zweier unterschiedlicher Parametrisierungen der Wolkenmikrophysik werden analysiert. Die Ergebnisse der Simulationen werden miteinander und mit den beobachteten Wolken- und Schneeverteilungen für eine Baltische Wärmezyklone verglichen. Die wesentlichen Unterschiede in den berechneten Verteilungen resultieren aus den verschiedenen Annahmen über Wolkeneis, die Eisklassen und die Größenverteilungen der Wolken- und Niederschlagspartikel. Beide Schemata sagen die Position und die wesentlichen Strukturen der Wolken- und Schneeverteilungen erfolgreich vorher. Dennoch überschätzt das eher konvektive Schema den Schneefall, während das andere ihn unterschätzt.

The Second Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-2) data set along with ECMWF reanalysis meteorological fields provided the basis for the single column model (SCM) simulations, performed as part of the PACE (Parameterization of the Aerosol Indirect Climatic Effect) project. Six different SCMs were used to simulate ACE-2 case studies of clean and polluted cloudy boundary layers, with the objective being to identify limitations of the aerosol/cloud/radiation interaction schemes within the range of uncertainty in in situ, reanalysis and satellite retrieved data. The exercise proceeds in three steps. First, SCMs are configured with the same fine vertical resolution as the ACE-2 in situ data base to evaluate the numerical schemes for prediction of aerosol activation, radiative transfer and precipitation formation. Second, the same test is performed at the coarser vertical resolution of GCMs to evaluate its impact on the performance of the parameterizations. Finally, SCMs are run for a 24–48 hr period to examine predictions of boundary layer clouds when initialized with large-scale meteorological fields. Several schemes were tested for the prediction of cloud droplet number concentration (N). Physically based activation schemes using vertical velocity show noticeable discrepancies compared to empirical schemes due to biases in the diagnosed cloud base vertical velocity. Prognostic schemes exhibit a larger variability than the diagnostic ones, due to a coupling between aerosol activation and drizzle scavenging in the calculation of N. When SCMs are initialized at a fine vertical resolution with locally observed vertical profiles of liquid water, predicted optical properties are comparable to observations. Predictions however degrade at coarser vertical resolution and are more sensitive to the mean liquid water path than to its spatial heterogeneity. Predicted precipitation fluxes are severely underestimated and improve when accounting for sub-grid liquid water variability. Results from the 24–48 hr runs suggest that most models have problems in simulating boundary layer cloud morphology, since the large-scale initialization fields do not accurately reproduce observed meteorological conditions. As a result, models significantly overestimate optical properties. Improved cloud morphologies were obtained for models with subgrid inversions and subgrid cloud thickness schemes. This may be a result of representing subgrid scale effects though we do not rule out the possibility that better large-forcing data may also improve cloud morphology predictions.

The Second Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-2) data set along with ECMWF reanalysis meteorological fields provided the basis for the single column model (SCM) simulations, performed as part of the PACE (Parameterization of the Aerosol Indirect Climatic Effect) project. Six different SCMs were used to simulate ACE-2 case studies of clean and polluted cloudy boundary layers, with the objective being to identify limitations of the aerosol/cloud/radiation interaction schemes within the range of uncertainty in in situ, reanalysis and satellite retrieved data. The exercise proceeds in three steps. First, SCMs are configured with the same fine vertical resolution as the ACE-2 in situ data base to evaluate the numerical schemes for prediction of aerosol activation, radiative transfer and precipitation formation. Second, the same test is performed at the coarser vertical resolution of GCMs to evaluate its impact on the performance of the parameterizations. Finally, SCMs are run for a 24–48 hr period to examine predictions of boundary layer clouds when initialized with large-scale meteorological fields. Several schemes were tested for the prediction of cloud droplet number concentration (N). Physically based activation schemes using vertical velocity show noticeable discrepancies compared to empirical schemes due to biases in the diagnosed cloud base vertical velocity. Prognostic schemes exhibit a larger variability than the diagnostic ones, due to a coupling between aerosol activation and drizzle scavenging in the calculation of N. When SCMs are initialized at a fine vertical resolution with locally observed vertical profiles of liquid water, predicted optical properties are comparable to observations. Predictions however degrade at coarser vertical resolution and are more sensitive to the mean liquid water path than to its spatial heterogeneity. Predicted precipitation fluxes are severely underestimated and improve when accounting for sub-grid liquid water variability. Results from the 24–48 hr runs suggest that most models have problems in simulating boundary layer cloud morphology, since the large-scale initialization fields do not accurately reproduce observed meteorological conditions. As a result, models significantly overestimate optical properties. Improved cloud morphologies were obtained for models with subgrid inversions and subgrid cloud thickness schemes. This may be a result of representing subgrid scale effects though we do not rule out the possibility that better large-forcing data may also improve cloud morphology predictions.

Die komplexen Interaktionen von Aerosolen, Wolken und Niederschlag werden in aktuellen Vorhersagemodellen nur ungenügend dargestellt. Simulationen mit spektraler Beschreibung von Wolkenprozessen können zu verbesserten Vorhersagen beitragen, sind jedoch weitaus rechenintensiver. Die Beschleunigung dieser Simulationen erfordert eine hochparallele Ausführung. In dieser Arbeit wird ein Konzept zur Kopplung spektraler Wolkenmikrophysikmodelle mit atmosphärischen Modellen entwickelt, das eine effiziente Nutzung der heute verfügbaren Parallelität der Größenordnung von 100.000 Prozessorkernen ermöglicht. Aufgrund des stark variierenden Rechenaufwands ist dafür eine hochskalierbare dynamische Lastbalancierung des Wolkenmikrophysikmodells unumgänglich. Dies wird durch ein hierarchisches Partitionierungsverfahren erreicht, das auf raumfüllenden Kurven basiert. Darüber hinaus wird eine hochskalierbare Verknüpfung von dynamischer Lastbalancierung und Modellkopplung durch ein effizientes Verfahren für die regelmäßige Bestimmung der Überschneidungen zwischen unterschiedlichen Partitionierungen ermöglicht. Durch die effiziente Nutzung von Hochleistungsrechnern ermöglichen die Ergebnisse der Arbeit die Anwendung spektraler Wolkenmikrophysikmodelle zur Simulation realistischer Szenarien auf hochaufgelösten Gittern. / Current forecast models insufficiently represent the complex interactions of aerosols, clouds and precipitation. Simulations with spectral description of cloud processes allow more detailed forecasts. However, they are much more computationally expensive. Reducing the runtime of such simulations requires a highly parallel execution. This thesis presents a concept for coupling spectral cloud microphysics models with atmospheric models that allows for efficient utilization of today\'s available parallelism in the order of 100.000 processor cores. Due to the strong workload variations, highly scalable dynamic load balancing of the cloud microphysics model is essential in order to reach this goal. This is achieved through a hierarchical partitioning method based on space-filling curves. Furthermore, a highly scalable connection of dynamic load balancing and model coupling is facilitated by an efficient method to regularly determine the intersections between different partitionings. The results of this thesis enable the application of spectral cloud microphysics models for the simulation of realistic scenarios with high resolution grids by efficient use of high performance computers.

Die komplexen Interaktionen von Aerosolen, Wolken und Niederschlag werden in aktuellen Vorhersagemodellen nur ungenügend dargestellt. Simulationen mit spektraler Beschreibung von Wolkenprozessen können zu verbesserten Vorhersagen beitragen, sind jedoch weitaus rechenintensiver. Die Beschleunigung dieser Simulationen erfordert eine hochparallele Ausführung. In dieser Arbeit wird ein Konzept zur Kopplung spektraler Wolkenmikrophysikmodelle mit atmosphärischen Modellen entwickelt, das eine effiziente Nutzung der heute verfügbaren Parallelität der Größenordnung von 100.000 Prozessorkernen ermöglicht. Aufgrund des stark variierenden Rechenaufwands ist dafür eine hochskalierbare dynamische Lastbalancierung des Wolkenmikrophysikmodells unumgänglich. Dies wird durch ein hierarchisches Partitionierungsverfahren erreicht, das auf raumfüllenden Kurven basiert. Darüber hinaus wird eine hochskalierbare Verknüpfung von dynamischer Lastbalancierung und Modellkopplung durch ein effizientes Verfahren für die regelmäßige Bestimmung der Überschneidungen zwischen unterschiedlichen Partitionierungen ermöglicht. Durch die effiziente Nutzung von Hochleistungsrechnern ermöglichen die Ergebnisse der Arbeit die Anwendung spektraler Wolkenmikrophysikmodelle zur Simulation realistischer Szenarien auf hochaufgelösten Gittern. / Current forecast models insufficiently represent the complex interactions of aerosols, clouds and precipitation. Simulations with spectral description of cloud processes allow more detailed forecasts. However, they are much more computationally expensive. Reducing the runtime of such simulations requires a highly parallel execution. This thesis presents a concept for coupling spectral cloud microphysics models with atmospheric models that allows for efficient utilization of today\'s available parallelism in the order of 100.000 processor cores. Due to the strong workload variations, highly scalable dynamic load balancing of the cloud microphysics model is essential in order to reach this goal. This is achieved through a hierarchical partitioning method based on space-filling curves. Furthermore, a highly scalable connection of dynamic load balancing and model coupling is facilitated by an efficient method to regularly determine the intersections between different partitionings. The results of this thesis enable the application of spectral cloud microphysics models for the simulation of realistic scenarios with high resolution grids by efficient use of high performance computers.