Graphical Abstract
Goto, D., and J. Uchida, 2022: Uncertainty in aerosol rainout processes through the case of the radioactive materials emitted by the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant in March 2011. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 100, 197-217.
https://doi.org/10.2151/jmsj.2022-010
Graphical Abstract
NEW GA
Plain Language Summary: An intercomparison study of four aerosol wet deposition schemes on the model was performed to simulate particulate Cs-137 in the emission scenario of the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant. Additional tests were also conducted on the sensitivity of aerosol tuning parameters and the impact of aerosol-cloud interactions. It is found that a proper set of rainout parameterizations and tunings are as important as the accurate meteorological fields, i.e., wind and water vapor, in determining the reproducibility of Cs-137 aerosol simulations.
Highlights:
- When the tuning parameters are properly set, all the schemes except CTM-type, are capable of closely resembling the observation.
- The shortcomings of CTM-type may be rooted in the model tendency (of NICAM), which has unusually high cloud water-to-precipitation conversion rate.
- The sensitivity of cloud microphysics on the simulated Cs-137 concentration is smaller than that of the wet deposition schemes