Eta vs. sigma: review of past results, Gallus-Klemp test, and large-scale wind skill in ensemble experiments

To determine the effect of switching between the eta and the sigma coordinate in numerical weather prediction involving topography, five sets of tests were performed. The eta version did better in all of them particularly with precipitation scores and more accurate placement of storms. However, a problem of flow separation in the lee of the bell-shaped topography discovered by Gallus and Klemp seemed to many to suggest the eta coordinate to be ill suited for high-resolution models. Flow separation is shown not to occur following a refinement of the eta discretization. Trying to identify a primary cause of the improvement in 250 hPa winds previously demonstrated in Eta ensemble members over their ECMWF driver members, ten of the Eta members were run switched to sigma. At a critical time, the Eta members in eta mode showed a tendency for more accurate tilt of a 250 hPa trough than the members run in sigma mode. The experiment was rerun for a more recent and higher resolution ECMWF ensemble, and for an increased number of members. The advantage of the Eta over ECMWF is seen again, even though this time, the Eta resolution during the first 10 days of the experiment was about the same as that of driver members. Rerunning the Eta ensemble switched to sigma showed an advantage in the Eta/eta 250 hPa wind scores used, again associated with an upper-air trough's movement across the Rockies. Better positioning of lee lows ahead of these troughs using Eta/eta is suggested to be making significant contributions to its better precipitation scores. Implications of experiments done for regional climate modeling are discussed as well.