Selecting MC3E Case Studies For Numerical Simulation Testing And Validation: From Intense Convection To Mostly Stratiform Precipitation Events

The recently completed Mid-latitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E) provides a multitude of co-located measurements providing information on both dynamics and microphysics that can be used for model validation and improvement. The collaboration between DOE and NASA provides excellent opportunities using datasets that combine the considerable assets of both sponsoring organizations. Here, we report on the process of case selection that will lead to model simulations for a variety of widely contrasting precipitation mechanisms. These include severe convective storms, stratiform and anvil clouds produced from such severe storms, as well as those produced from more "ordinary" examples of deep convection. On the other extreme, they include a few cases that more closely resemble mostly stratiform precipitation from cool season synoptic scale disturbances. For the most promising candidate case studies, we expect to show examples of 3-hourly sounding data from 6 sites, radar data from both DOE and NASA radars, and aircraft remote sensing data from the NASA ER-2 and in situ microphysics data from the University of North Dakota Citation, and first results from a nested-grid WRF simulation of one case. In most cases, there are some missing data, but there are several examples of weak and strong convective systems that should become important validation datasets for constraining results of numerical simulations, and for improving microphysics parameterizations.