  A single-column model (SCM) is constructed in the regional climate model
RegCM4. The evolution of a dry convection boundary layer (DCBL) is used to
evaluate this SCM and compare four planetary boundary layer (PBL) schemes, the
Holtslag-Boville scheme (HB), Yonsei University scheme (YSU), and two
University of Washington schemes (UW01, Grenier-Bretherton-McCaa scheme and
UW09, Bretherton-Park scheme), using the SCM approach. A large-eddy simulation
(LES) of the DCBL is performed as a benchmark to examine how well a PBL
parameterization scheme reproduces the LES results, and several diagnostic
outputs are compared to evaluate the schemes. In general, with the DCBL case,
the YSU scheme performs best for reproducing the LES results, which include
well-mixed features and vertical sensible heat fluxes; UW09 has the second best
performance, UW01 has the third best performance, and the HB scheme has the
worst performance. The results show that the SCM is proper constructed.
Although more cases and further testing are required, these simulations show
encouraging results towards the use of this SCM framework for studying the
physical processes in RegCM4.
