Evolution of Precipitation Structure During the November DYNAMO MJO Event: Cloud‐Resolving Model Intercomparison and Cross Validation Using Radar Observations Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres

Evolution of precipitation structures are simulated and compared with radar observations for the November Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) event during the DYNAmics of the MJO (DYNAMO) field campaign. Three ground-based, ship-borne, and spaceborne precipitation radars and three cloud-resolving models (CRMs) driven by observed large-scale forcing are used to study precipitation structures at different locations over the central equatorial Indian Ocean. Convective strength is represented by 0-dBZ echo-topheights, and convective organization by contiguous 17-dBZ areas. The multi-radar and multi-model framework allows for more stringent model validations. The emphasis is on testing models ’ability to simulate subtle differences observed at different radar sites when the MJO event passed through. The results showthat CRMs forced by site-speci fic large-scale forcing can reproduce not only common features in cloud