Evaluating the physics options of regional weather models for areas with complex land-use characteristics

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the effects of changing different physics schemes on the accuracy of weather simulations at different locations inside Egypt. The model sensitivity to physics options was tested in the four seasons and the results were compared to observations at different locations. Different physics packages were used based on different planetary boundary layer (PBL) and radiation schemes. The question to be answered in this study is: which scheme is the best scheme for certain location and/or weather regime?. The paper presents the details of model configurations, the results of the carried out simulations, and the behavior of the model with different physics options and initializations at different locations. The best physics options for each location and how to get better solutions for areas with complex land-use characteristics was identified. This is beneficial in determining how to choose an optimal set-up for a forecasting system, especially in Egypt.