Sensitivity of Precipitation over China to Different Cumulus Parameterization Schemes in RegCM4

The effect of different cumulus parameterization schemes (CPSs) on precipitation over China is investi-gated by using the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) Regional Climate Model version 4.3 (RegCM-4.3) coupled with the land surface model BATS1e (Biosphere-Atmosphere Transfer Scheme version 1e). The ERA-interim data are utilized to drive a group of simulations over a 31-yr period from September 1982 to December 2012. Two typically sensitive regions, i.e., the eastern Tibetan Plateau (TP; 29-38N, 90-100E) and eastern China (EC; 26-32N, 110-120E), are focused on. The results show that all the CPSs have well reproduced the spatial distribution of annual precipitation in China. The simulation with the Emanuel scheme shows an overall overestimation of precipitation in China, different from the other three CPSs which only overestimate over northern and northwestern China but underestimate over southern China. Seasonally, the Tiedtke scheme shows the smallest overestimation in winter and summer, and the best simulation of the annual variance of precipitation. Interannual variations of precipitation among the four CPSs are generally simulated better in summer than in winter, and better for entire China than in the subregions of TP and EC. The precipitation trend is simulated better over EC than over TP, and better in summer than in winter. An overestimate (underestimate) of the East Asian summer monsoon index (EASMI) exists in the simulations with the Grell and the Emanuel (the Kuo and the Tiedtke) schemes. The smallest EASMI bias in the Tiedtke simulation could explain its small precipitation bias. A negative correlation between the EASMI and summer precipitation over the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River is found in the Grell and the Emanuel simulations, but was missed by the simulations using the Kuo and the Tiedtke schemes.