Implementation of a three-dimensional planetary boundary  layer parameterization in a coupled modeling system and  evaluation of “gray zone” simulations of a wind-wave  event off the US California Coast using observations

Hendricks, Eric A.; Juliano, Timothy W.; Kosović, Branko; Haupt, Sue Ellen; Gaudet, Brian J.; Xia, Geng

doi:10.5194/gmd-19-7369-2026

Articles | Volume 19, issue 15

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-7369-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-7369-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 15

Development and technical paper

|

10 Aug 2026

Development and technical paper |

| 10 Aug 2026

Implementation of a three-dimensional planetary boundary layer parameterization in a coupled modeling system and evaluation of “gray zone” simulations of a wind-wave event off the US California Coast using observations

Eric A. Hendricks, Timothy W. Juliano, Branko Kosović, Sue Ellen Haupt, Brian J. Gaudet, and Geng Xia

Data sets

COAWST 1D and 3D PBL simulation codebases, namelists, and observations Eric A. Hendricks https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18157794

Model code and software

WRF Timothy W. Juliano https://github.com/twjuliano/WRF/tree/develop_3dpbl_on_top

COAWST DOI-USGS https://github.com/jcwarner-usgs/COAWST.git

COAWST-3DPBL NCAR https://github.com/NCAR/COAWST-3DPBL

Short summary

A three-dimensional planetary boundary layer (PBL) parameterization, suited for mesoscale model grid spacings of 100–1000 m with improved treatment of unresolved horizontal mixing, is added to a coupled atmosphere/wave modeling system and the first coupled simulations are executed using the parameterization. Simulations of a significant wind-wave event demonstrate that the new parameterization has similar behaviors as one-dimensional PBL parameterizations and compares well with observations.