A short-duration global cloud-resolving simulation with a realistic land and sea distribution

[1] A global cloud-resolving simulation with horizontal grid spacing of approximately 3.5 km was performed using a realistic land and sea distribution. Reanalysis data for 00:00 UTC on 1 April 2004 were input as the initial data. Convective systems were organized spontaneously from the coarser-resolution data, and the development of a typhoon was reproduced; the minimum central pressure of the typhoon was approximately the same as observed. While extratropical cyclones and their fine structures were well simulated, convective clouds in the tropics were overpredicted in some regions. A sensitivity test with a horizontal grid spacing of approximately 14 km suggested that the extent of cloud organization depends on vertical moisture transport at the subgrid scale. This result suggests that appropriate representation of moisture transport from the boundary layer to the free troposphere may be essential for simulating realistic cloud systems by global cloud-resolving models.