Evaluation of two MM5-PBL parameterizations for solar radiation and temperature estimation in the South-Eastern area of the Iberian Peninsula

We study the relative performance of two different MM5-PBL parameterizations (Blackadar and MRF) simulating hourly values of solar irradiance and temperature in the south-eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula. The evaluation was carried out throughout the different seasons of the year 2005 and for three different sky conditions: clear-sky, broken-clouds and overcast conditions. Two integrations, one per PBL parameterization, were carried out for every sky condition and season of the year and results were compared with observational data. Overall, the MM5 model, both using the Blackadar or MRF PBL parameterization, revealed to be a valid tool to estimate hourly values of solar radiation and temperature over the study area. The influence of the PBL parameterization on the model estimates was found to be more important for the solar radiation than for the temperature and highly dependent on the season and sky conditions. Particularly, a detailed analysis revealed that, during broken-clouds conditions, the ability of the model to reproduce hourly changes in the solar radiation strongly depends upon the selected PBL parameterization. Additionally, it was found that solar radiation RMSE values are about one order of magnitude higher during broken-clouds and overcast conditions compared to clear-sky conditions. For the temperature, the two PBL parameterizations provide very similar estimates. Only under overcast conditions and during the autumn, the MRF provides significantly better estimates.