Impact of Microphysics and Convective Parameterizations on Dynamical Downscaling for the European Domain

In what follows, we present the study of different configurations of the Weather Research and Forecast model restricted to the EURO-CORDEX area at different spatial resolutions from 0.44 degrees x 0.44 degrees down to 0.04 degrees x 0.04 degrees. Our numerical model is forced at the boundaries by ERA-interim re-analysis data. Monthly and daily statistics for the year 1979 are compared in order to set the best configuration for rainfall predictions. Precipitation climatologies are then derived and particular attention is paid to the Alpine region. Our results show that local precipitation patterns are well reproduced by the regional model while highlighting the need of grid-resolved convection to avoid artificial additive precipitation and to reduce the rainfall rate bias especially of regions with complex orography.