  We have performed three-dimensional thunderstorm real simulations using the
two-moment and three-moment bulk microphysics schemes in the Weather Research
and Forecasting (WRF) model. We have analyzed three cases to understand the
potential differences between the double-moment (Morrison-2M) and National
Taiwan University triple-moment (NTU-3M) microphysics parameterizations in
capturing the characteristics of lightning events over the Indian subcontinent.
Despite general resemblances in these schemes, the simulations reveal distinct
differences in storm structure, cloud hydrometeors formation, and
precipitation. The lightning flash counts from the in situ lightning detection
network (LDN) are also used to compare the simulation of storms. The Lightning
Potential Index (LPI) is computed for Morrison-2M and NTU-3M microphysics
schemes and compared it with the Lightning Detection Network (LDN) observation.
In most cases, the Morrison-2M shows more LPI than the NTU-3M scheme. Both the
schemes also differ in simulating rainfall and other thermodynamical,
dynamical, and microphysical parameters in the model. Here, we have attempted
to identify the basic differences between these two schemes, which may be
responsible for the discrepancies in the simulations. In particular, the
Morrison-2M produced much higher surface precipitation rates. The effects on
the size distributions cloud hydrometeors between two microphysical schemes are
important to simulate the biases in the precipitation and lightning flash
counts. The inclusions of ice crystal shapes are responsible for many of the
key differences between the two microphysics simulations. Different approaches
in treating cloud ice, snow, and graupel may have an impact on the simulation
of lightning and precipitation. Results show that the simulation of lightning
events is sensitive to microphysical parameterization schemes in NWP models.
