Meng et al. (2026) Effects of land surface parameterizations on cold‐fog simulation in Heber Valley: Insights from the CFACT field campaign

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-08-31
• Authors: Tian Meng, Ismail Gültepe, Onur Durmus, Shun Li, Zhaoxia Pu, Bingui Wu, Eric R. Pardyjak, Alexei O. Perelet
• DOI: 10.1002/qj.70290

Research Groups

• Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah
• National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)

Short Summary

This study investigates the impact of different land surface models on mountain cold-fog simulations, focusing on the sensitivity of key land surface parameters and their associated physical mechanisms.

Objective

• Investigate how different land surface models affect mountain cold-fog simulations and study the sensitivity of key land surface parameters.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Local scale (Heber Valley, Utah, USA)
• Temporal Scale: January–February 2022

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model with three land surface models: SLAB, Noah, and Noah-MP.
• Data sources: Observations from the Cold Fog Amongst Complex Terrain (CFACT) project, ERA5 reanalysis data.

Main Results

• Snow depth derived from ERA5 introduces cold biases in default Noah and Noah-MP simulations.
• Reducing or removing initial snow depth improves near-surface simulations.
• Soil thermal conductivity primarily regulates nocturnal surface cooling, while soil moisture content mainly modulates near-surface moisture availability.
• Adjusting soil thermal conductivity and soil moisture content results in good simulation performance for air temperature (R2 = 87%) and relative humidity (R2 = 74%).

Contributions

• This study clarifies the sensitivity of key land surface parameters on cold-fog simulations, providing insights into the physical mechanisms involved.

Funding

• National Science Foundation (NSF) grant number [insert reference code]
• University of Utah Research Fund

Citation

@article{Meng2026Effects,
  author = {Meng, Tian and Gültepe, Ismail and Durmus, Onur and Li, Shun and Pu, Zhaoxia and Wu, Bingui and Pardyjak, Eric R. and Perelet, Alexei O.},
  title = {Effects of land surface parameterizations on cold‐fog simulation in Heber Valley: Insights from the CFACT field campaign},
  journal = {Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1002/qj.70290},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.70290}
}