The WRFv3.3.1 ARW PS:4.4.4.1.2.1.1 configuration replaces the Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) long-wave and short-wave radiation schemes used in operations with the Rapid Radiative Transfer Model for GCMs (RRTMG; Iacono et al. 2008) schemes. This configuration was evaluated by the Developmental Testbed Cener (DTC) during the fall of 2011 to assess the impact of the RRTMG schemes.

A Contiguous United States (CONUS) domain with 15-km grid spacing was employed for this test covering complex terrain, plains and coastal regions spanning from the Gulf of Mexico, north to Central Canada in order to capture diverse regional effects for worldwide comparability. This configuration is a general application configuration for mid-latitude forecasts.