Thesis
Evaluation of hail environments in Southwestern Western Australia from 4KM regional climate simulations
Honours, Murdoch University
2025
Abstract
Hailstorms are among the most damaging weather hazards in Australia. Despite causing significant financial losses, the lack of comprehensive data limits understanding of hailstorm behaviour. To address this gap, this study evaluates the ability of a regional climate model to simulate observed variations in hail environments across southwest Western Australia (SWWA) using high–resolution (4 km) simulations from the Weather Research and Forecasting model, driven by ERA5 reanalysis data. Two model configurations, R3 and R5, which use different Planetary Boundary Layer schemes (R3 uses MYNN and R5 ACM2), are evaluated against radiosonde and radar observational data to quantify skill in simulating hail environments. Simulated historical hail frequency and distribution are benchmarked against observations using two convective parameters (Convective Available Potential Energy [CAPE] and bulk wind shear) to characterise storm environments, along with radar-observed and WRF-HAILCAST model-derived hail presence and size. Results indicate that the R3 configuration generally outperformed R5 in terms of reproducing observed distributions, magnitudes, and spatial patterns, although both models struggled to accurately simulate very high CAPE, and the timing and location of individual events. This study establishes the first climatological baseline of hail for SWWA and provides a benchmark for the evaluation of CMIP6-driven WRF simulations to further investigate current and future changes in hail under different future climate scenarios.
Details
- Title
- Evaluation of hail environments in Southwestern Western Australia from 4KM regional climate simulations
- Authors/Creators
- Kathleen Gabiana
- Contributors
- Jatin Kala (Supervisor) - Murdoch University, Centre for Terrestrial Ecosystem Science and SustainabilityKerryn Hawke (Supervisor) - Murdoch University, School of Environmental and Conservation Sciences
- Awarding Institution
- Murdoch University; Honours
- Identifiers
- 991005852588407891
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Environmental and Conservation Sciences
- Resource Type
- Thesis
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