Measurement and evaluation of the microphysics and boundary‐layer schemes in hot and humid zones in WRF model

The problem of the urban heat island is becoming increasingly serious in China, especially in the cities with hot and humid climate. As a simulation tool, the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model can reflect the situation of the urban heat island. In this article, air temperature and relative humidity above the building canopy layer of Wuhan, China, were measured to choose appropriate microphysics and boundary‐layer schemes for the WRF model. Through comparison of measurements and simulation results, the case using the WSM 6 microphysics and Yonsei University boundary‐layer schemes showed the best agreement with the measured data. The applicability of the appropriate model was verified against near‐surface air temperature, relative humidity, and wind velocity observations from two meteorological stations. The magnitude of simulated air temperature was lower than observed, whereas the magnitudes of simulated relative humidity and wind velocity were higher. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 35: 1125–1131, 2016