Recent Progress in Numerical Atmospheric Modeling in China

This review summarizes the scientific and technical progress in atmospheric modeling in China since 2011, including the dynamical core, model physics, data assimilation, ensemble forecasting, and model evaluation strategies. In terms of the dynamical core, important efforts have been made in the improvement of the existing model formulations and in exploring new modeling approaches that can better adapt to massively parallel computers and global multiscale modeling. With regard to model physics, various achievements in physical representations have been made, especially a trend toward scale-aware parameterization for accommodating the increase of model resolution. In the field of data assimilation, a 4D-Var system has been developed and is operationally used by the National Meteorological Center of China, and its performance is promising. Furthermore, ensemble forecasting has played a more important role in operational forecast systems and progressed in many fundamental techniques. Model evaluation strategies, including key performance metrics and standardized experimental protocols, have been proposed and widely applied to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of the systems, offering key routes for model improvement. The paper concludes with a concise summary of the status quo and a brief outlook in terms of future development.