Domain choice in an experimental nested modeling prediction system for South America

Summary The purposes of this paper are to evaluate the new version of the regional model, RegCM3, over South America for two test seasons, and to select a domain for use in an experimental nested prediction system, which incorporates RegCM3 and the European Community-Hamburg (ECHAM) general circulation model (GCM). To evaluate RegCM3, control experiments were completed with RegCM3 driven by both the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis (NNRP) and ECHAM, using a small control domain (D-CTRL) and integration periods of January–March 1983 (El Ni?o) and January–March 1985 (La Ni?a). The new version of the regional model captures the primary circulation and rainfall differences between the two years over tropical and subtropical South America. Both the NNRP-driven and ECHAM-driven RegCM3 improve the simulation of the Atlantic intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) compared to the GCM. However, there are some simulation errors. Irrespective of the driving fields, weak northeasterlies associated with reduced precipitation are observed over the Amazon. The simulation of the South Atlantic convergence zone is poor due to errors in the boundary condition forcing which appear to be amplified by the regional model. To select a domain for use in an experimental prediction system, sensitivity tests were performed for three domains, each of which includes important regional features and processes of the climate system. The domain sensitivity experiments were designed to determine how domain size and the location of the GCM boundary forcing affect the regional circulation, moisture transport, and rainfall in two years with different large scale conditions. First, the control domain was extended southward to include the exit region of the Andes low level jet (D-LLJ), then eastward to include the South Atlantic subtropical high (D-ATL), and finally westward to include the subsidence region of the South Pacific subtropical high and to permit the regional model more freedom to respond to the increased resolution of the Andes Mountains (D-PAC). In order to quantify differences between the domain experiments, measures of bias, root mean square error, and the spatial correlation pattern were calculated between the model results and the observed data for the seasonal average fields. The results show the GCM driving fields have remarkable control over the RegCM3 simulations. Although no single domain clearly outperforms the others in both seasons, the control domain, D-CTRL, compares most favorably with observations. Over the ITCZ region, the simulations were improved by including a large portion of the South Atlantic subtropical high (D-ATL). The methodology presented here provides a quantitative basis for evaluating domain choice in future studies.     

Assessing future climate changes and extreme indicators in east and south Asia using the RegCM4 regional climate model

This paper assesses future climate changes over East and South Asia using a regional climate model (RegCM4) with a 50?km spatial resolution. To evaluate the model performance, RegCM4 is driven with ??perfect boundary forcing?? from the reanalysis data during 1970?C1999 to simulate the present day climate. The model performs well in reproducing not only the mean climate and seasonality but also most of the chosen indicators of climate extremes. Future climate changes are evaluated based on two experiments driven with boundary forcing from the European-Hamburg general climate model (ECHAM5), one for the present (1970?C1999) and one for the SRES A1B future scenario (2070?C2099). The model predicts an annual temperature increase of about 3°?C5° (smaller over the ocean and larger over the land), and an increase of annual precipitation over most of China north of 30°N and a decrease or little change in the rest of China, India and Indochina. For temperature-related extreme indicators in the future, the model predicts a generally longer growing season, more hot days in summer, and less frost days in winter. For precipitation-related extremes, the number of days with more than 10?mm of rainfall is predicted to increase north of 30°N and decrease in the south, and the maximum five-day rainfall amount and daily intensity will increase across the whole model domain. In addition, the maximum number of consecutive dry days is predicted to increase over most of the model domain, south of 40°N. Most of the Yangtze River Basin in China stands out as ??hotspots?? of extreme precipitation changes, with the strongest increases of daily rain intensity, maximum five-day rain amount, and the number of consecutive dry days, suggesting increased risks of both floods and droughts.     

Introduction to the Regional Coupled Model WRF4-LICOM: Performance and Model Intercomparison over the Western North Pacific

Regional coupled modeling is one of the frontiers of regional climate modeling, but intercomparison has not been well coordinated. In this study, a community regional climate model, WRF4, with a resolution of 15 km, was coupled with a high-resolution(0.1°) North Pacific Ocean model(LICOM_np). The performance of the regional coupled model,WRF4_LICOM, was compared to that of another regional coupled model, RegCM4_LICOM, which was a coupling of version 4 of the Regional Climate Model(RegCM4) with LICOM_np. The analysis focused on the 2005 western North Pacific summer monsoon rainfall. The results showed that the regional coupled models with either RegCM4 or WRF4 as their atmospheric model component simulated the broad features over the WNP reasonably well. Quantitative intercomparison of the regional coupled simulations exhibited different biases for different climate variables.RegCM4_LICOM exhibited smaller biases in its simulation of the averaged June–July–August SST and rainfall, while WRF4_LICOM better captured the tropical cyclone(TC) intensity, the percentage contributions of rainfall induced by TCs to the total rainfall, and the diurnal cycle of rainfall and stratiform percentages, especially over land areas. The different behaviors in rainfall simulated by the two models were partly ascribed to the behaviors in the simulated western North Pacific subtropical high(WNPSH). The stronger(weaker) WNPSH in WRF4_LICOM(RegCM4_LICOM) was driven by overestimated(underestimated) diabatic heating, which peaked at approximately 450 hPa over the region around the Philippines in association with different condensation–radiation processes. Coupling of WRF4 with LIOCM is a crucial step towards the development of the next generation of regional earth system models at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.     

Impact of domain size on the simulation of Indian summer monsoon in RegCM4 using mixed convection scheme and driven by HadGEM2

In this study, a smaller domain over India alone and a larger South Asia (SA) domain have been used in the Regional Climate Model version 4.2 (RegCM4.2) to examine the effect of the domain size on the Indian summer monsoon simulations. These simulations were carried out over a period of 36 years at 50 km horizontal resolution with the lateral boundary forcings of the UK Met Office Hadley Centre Global Circulation Model Version 2.0. Results show that the Indian summer monsoon rainfall is significantly reduced when the domain size for the model integration is reduced from SA to the Indian domain. In case of SA domain simulation, the Equitable Threat Scores have higher values in case of very light, light and moderate rainfall events than those in case of the Indian domain simulation. It is also found that the domain size of model integration has dominant impact on the simulated convective precipitation. The cross-equatorial flow and the Somali Jet are better represented in the SA simulation than those in the Indian domain simulation. The vertically integrated moisture flux over the Arabian Sea in the SA domain simulation is close to that in the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis while it is underestimated in the Indian domain simulation. It is important to note that when RegCM4.2 is integrated over the smaller Indian domain, the effects of the Himalayas and the moisture advection from the Indian seas are not properly represented in the model simulation and hence the monsoon circulation and associated rainfall are underestimated over India.     

Multi-decadal scenario simulation over Korea using a one-way double-nested regional climate model system. Part 1: recent climate simulation (1971–2000)

We present an analysis of a high resolution multi-decadal simulation of recent climate (1971–2000) over the Korean Peninsula with a regional climate model (RegCM3) using a one-way double-nested system. Mean climate state as well as frequency and intensity of extreme climate events are investigated at various temporal and spatial scales, with focus on surface air temperature and precipitation. The mother intermediate resolution model domain encompasses the eastern regions of Asia at 60 km grid spacing while the high resolution nested domain covers the Korean Peninsula at 20 km grid spacing. The simulation spans the 30-year period of January 1971 through December 2000, and initial and lateral boundary conditions for the mother domain are provided from ECHO-G fields based on the IPCC SRES B2 scenario. The model shows a good performance in reproducing the climatological and regional characteristics of surface variables, although some persistent biases are present. Main results are as follows: (1) The RegCM3 successfully simulates the fine-scale structure of the temperature field due to topographic forcing but it shows a systematic cold bias mostly due to an underestimate of maximum temperature. (2) The frequency distribution of simulated daily mean temperature agrees well with the observed seasonal and spatial patterns. In the summer season, however, daily variability is underestimated. (3) The RegCM3 simulation adequately captures the seasonal evolution of precipitation associated to the East Asia monsoon. In particular, the simulated winter precipitation is remarkably good, clearly showing typical precipitation patterns that occur on the northwestern areas of Japan during the winter monsoon. Although summer precipitation is underestimated, area-averaged time series of precipitation over Korea show that the RegCM3 agrees better with observations than ECHO-G both in terms of seasonal evolution and precipitation amounts. (4) Heavy rainfall phenomena exceeding 300 mm/day are simulated only at the high resolution of the double nested domain. (5) The model shows a tendency to overestimate the number of precipitation days and to underestimate the precipitation intensities. (6) A CSEOF analysis reveals that the model captures the strength of the annual cycle and the surface warming trend throughout the simulated period.     

区域气候模式侧边界的处理对东亚夏季风降水模拟的影响

在区域气候模式模拟中,侧边界的作用是引入大尺度强迫场。如何处理好侧边界,即大尺度强迫场和区域气候模式本身之间的关系问题,对于区域气候模式模拟和预报东亚夏季风降水具有重要意义。本文利用美国纽约州立大学Albany分校的区域气候模式（SUNYA-ReCM）,设计了两种不同的侧边界处理方法,来探讨侧边界对东亚夏季风降水模拟的影响。驱动区域模式的大尺度强迫场来自欧洲中期天气预报中心（ECMWF）及热带海洋大气研究计划（TOGA）的分析资料场。试验结果表明:（1）当模式的区域较大时,采用较小的侧边界缓冲区会在缓冲区与模式内部的交界处产生不连续;扩大缓冲区并且考虑不同尺度强迫在垂直方向上的不同作用,可以避免这一缺陷。（2）更重要的是采用后一种方案,即减少了区域气候模式在模拟大尺度环流场方面所起的作用,使得模式更多地依赖侧边界来得到更真实的、对东亚夏季风降水起重大影响的一些气流,如副高、西南季风和南海季风,对东亚夏季风降水无论是在大小上还是在雨带位置的演变上都能进行更好的模拟。     

区域气候模式在东亚地区的应用研究——垂直分辨率与侧边界对夏季季风降水影响研究

将美国国家大气研究中心（NCAR）的区域气候模式（RegCM2-1996）设置在东亚-西太平洋区域（简称东亚区域气候模式RegCM2/EA）。利用该模式研究东亚区域气候模式的几个重要问题，即：垂直分辨率的影响，侧边界条件（如嵌套技术、缓冲区宽度、不同资料）的重要性等。数值试验结果表明：细垂直分辨率模拟的降水分布优于粗分辨率模式，但容易引起“数值点暴雨”；RegCM2/EA与不同来源的大尺度侧边界嵌套，模拟的降水会有明显的不同；当用RegCM2/EA模拟较大区域时，应该取较宽的缓冲区；在各种嵌套方案中，指数松弛嵌套方法最好。这些结果为进一步探讨东亚区域气候模式的特点以及发展与改造区域气候模式提供一定的依据。研究结果还需要用更多的数值试验来验证。     

Regional model simulation of summer rainfall over the Philippines: Effect of choice of driving fields and ocean flux schemes

Summary The latest version of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) regional model RegCM is used to investigate summer monsoon precipitation over the Philippine archipelago and surrounding ocean waters, a region where regional climate models have not been applied before. The sensitivity of simulated precipitation to driving lateral boundary conditions (NCEP and ERA40 reanalyses) and ocean surface flux scheme (BATS and Zeng) is assessed for 5 monsoon seasons. The ability of the RegCM to simulate the spatial patterns and magnitude of monsoon precipitation is demonstrated, both in response to the prominent large scale circulations over the region and to the local forcing by the physiographical features of the Philippine islands. This provides encouraging indications concerning the development of a regional climate modeling system for the Philippine region. On the other hand, the model shows a substantial sensitivity to the analysis fields used for lateral boundary conditions as well as the ocean surface flux schemes. The use of ERA40 lateral boundary fields consistently yields greater precipitation amounts compared to the use of NCEP fields. Similarly, the BATS scheme consistently produces more precipitation compared to the Zeng scheme. As a result, different combinations of lateral boundary fields and surface ocean flux schemes provide a good simulation of precipitation amounts and spatial structure over the region. The response of simulated precipitation to using different forcing analysis fields is of the same order of magnitude as the response to using different surface flux parameterizations in the model. As a result it is difficult to unambiguously establish which of the model configurations is best performing.     

Testing WRF capability in simulating the atmospheric water cycle over Equatorial East Africa

Uncertainties in simulating the seasonal mean atmospheric water cycle in Equatorial East Africa are quantified using 58 one-year-long experiments performed with the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF). Tested parameters include physical parameterizations of atmospheric convection, cloud microphysics, planetary boundary layer, land-surface model and radiation schemes, as well as land-use categories (USGS vs. MODIS), lateral forcings (ERA-Interim and ERA40 reanalyses), and domain geometry (size and vertical resolution). Results show that (1) uncertainties, defined as the differences between the experiments, are larger than the biases; (2) the parameters exerting the largest influence on simulated rainfall are, in order of decreasing importance, the shortwave radiation scheme, the land-surface model, the domain size, followed by convective schemes and land-use categories; (3) cloud microphysics, lateral forcing reanalysis, the number of vertical levels and planetary boundary layer schemes appear to be of lesser importance at the seasonal scale. Though persisting biases (consisting of conditions that are too wet over the Indian Ocean and the Congo Basin and too dry over eastern Kenya) prevail in most experiments, several configurations simulate the regional climate with reasonable accuracy.     

An evaluation of RegCM3_CERES for regional climate modeling in China

A 20-year simulation of regional climate over East Asia by the regional climate model RegCM3_CERES (Regional Climate Model version 3 coupled with the Crop Estimation through Resource and Environment Synthesis) was carried out and compared with observations and the original RegCM3 model to comprehensively evaluate its performance in simulating the regional climate over continental China. The results showed that RegCM3_CERES reproduced the regional climate at a resolution of 60 km over China by using ERA40 data as the boundary conditions, albeit with some limitations. The model captured the basic characteristics of the East Asian circulation, the spatial distribution of mean precipitation and temperature, and the daily characteristics of precipitation and temperature. However, it underestimated both the intensity of the monsoon in the monsoonal area and precipitation in southern China, overestimated precipitation in northern China, and produced a systematic cold temperature bias over most of continental China. Despite these limitations, it was concluded that the RegCM3_CERES model is able to simulate the regional climate over continental China reasonably well.     

Changes in extremes and hydroclimatic regimes in the CREMA ensemble projections

We analyze changes of four extreme hydroclimatic indices in the RCP8.5 projections of the Phase I CREMA experiment, which includes 21st century projections over 5 CORDEX domains (Africa, Central America, South America, South Asia, Mediterranean) with the ICTP regional model RegCM4 driven by three CMIP5 global models. The indices are: Heat Wave Day Index (HWD), Maximum Consecutive Dry Day index (CDD), fraction of precipitation above the 95th intensity percentile (R95) and Hydroclimatic Intensity index (HY-INT). Comparison with coarse (GPCP) and high (TRMM) resolution daily precipitation data for the present day conditions shows that the precipitation intensity distributions from the GCMs are close to the GPCP data, while the RegCM4 ones are closer to TRMM, illustrating the added value of the increased resolution of the regional model. All global and regional model simulations project predominant increases in HWD, CDD, R95 and HY-INT, implying a regime shift towards more intense, less frequent rain events and increasing risk of heat wave, drought and flood with global warming. However, the magnitudes of the changes are generally larger in the global than the regional models, likely because of the relatively low “climate sensitivity” of the RegCM4, especially when using the CLM land surface scheme. In addition, pronounced regional differences in the change signals are found. The data from these simulations are available for use in impact assessment studies.     

RegCM3 CORDEX东亚试验模拟和预估的中国夏季温度变化

按照CORDEX (COordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment) 计划试验设计要求,利用中国科学院大气物理研究所全球模式FGOALS-g2的数据驱动区域气候模式RegCM3,针对1986~2005年历史气候和2010~2065年RCP8.5排放情景下气候预估,对东亚地区进行了50 km动力降尺度模拟。首先评估了RegCM3模式及驱动模式FGOALS-g2对1986~2005年夏季中国地表气温和极端高温事件的模拟能力,然后比较了两个模式在RCP8.5排放情景下对中国夏季地表气温和极端高温事件预估的变化,重点分析了动力降尺度结果的优势。结果表明,两个模式均能合理再现夏季中国地表气温和极端高温事件的大尺度气候态特征。相对于全球模式,区域模式由于水平分辨率较高,能在刻画地表气温分布的细节上体现出优势。在RCP8.5排放情景下,两个模式预估的三个地表气温指标均显著升高,到21世纪中期 (2046~2065年),两个模式预估的全国平均地表气温增幅相当,气温日较差变化均较小。在FGOALS-g2模式预估中,到21世纪中期,三个地表气温指标的增幅相当,气温日较差没有明显变化,东北和青藏高原的地表气温增幅最大。在RegCM3模式预估中,到21世纪中期,中国大部分地区日最高气温 (Tmax) 增幅大于日最低气温 (Tmin) 增幅,气温日较差增加;而在青藏高原西部,Tmax的增幅较Tmin偏低,气温日较差减小。在RCP8.5排放情景下,两个模式预估的极端高温事件到21世纪中期也显著增加,RegCM3模式预估的极端高温事件全国平均增幅略高于FGOALS-g2模式的预估。在两个模式的预估中,日最高气温最大值 (TXx)、暖昼指数 (TX90p) 和持续暖期指数 (WSDI) 变化的空间分布特征与Tmax相似;和当代相比TX90p增加了60%以上,而WSDI增加了一倍以上。     

The role of lateral boundary conditions in simulations of mineral aerosols by a regional climate model of Southwest Asia

The importance of specifying realistic lateral boundary conditions in the regional modeling of mineral aerosols has not been examined previously. This study examines the impact of assigning values for mineral aerosol (dust) concentrations at the lateral boundaries of Regional Climate Model version 3 (RegCM3) and its aerosol model over Southwest Asia. Currently, the dust emission module of RegCM3 operates over the interior of the domain, allowing dust to be transported to the boundaries, but neglecting any dust emitted at these points or from outside the domain. To account for possible dust occurring at, or entering from the boundaries, mixing ratios of dust concentrations from a larger domain RegCM3 simulation are specified at the boundaries of a smaller domain over Southwest Asia. The lateral boundary conditions are monthly averaged concentration values (μg of dust per kg of dry air) resolved in the vertical for all four dust bin sizes within RegCM3’s aerosol model. RegCM3 simulations with the aerosol/dust model including lateral boundary conditions for dust are performed for a five year period and compared to model simulations without prescribed dust concentrations at the boundaries. Results indicate that specifying boundary conditions has a significant impact on dust loading across the entire domain over Southwest Asia. More specifically, a nearly 30% increase in aerosol optical depth occurs during the summer months from specifying realistic dust boundary conditions, bringing model results closer to observations such as MISR. In addition, smaller dust particles at the boundaries have a more important impact than large particles in affecting the dust loading within the interior of this domain. Moreover, increases in aerosol optical depth and dust concentrations within the interior domain are not entirely caused by inflow from the boundaries; results indicate that an increase in the gradient of concentration at the boundaries causes an increase of diffusion from the boundaries. Lastly, experiments performed using a climatology of dust concentrations yield similar results to those using actual monthly values. Therefore, using a climatology of dust mixing ratios is sufficient in implementing lateral boundary conditions for mineral aerosols. In short, this work concludes that realistic specification of lateral boundary conditions for mineral aerosols can be important in modeling the dust loading over arid regional climates such as Southwest Asia.     

温室效应对我国东部地区气候影响的高分辨率数值试验

使用RegCM3区域气候模式,单向嵌套NASA/NCAR 的全球环流模式FvGCM的输出结果,对中国东部地区进行了在实际温室气体浓度下当代1961~1990年和在IPCC A2温室气体排放情景下21世纪末期2071~2100年各30年时间长度,水平分辨率为20 km的气候变化模拟试验。首先分析全球和区域模式对中国东部地区当代气候的模拟情况,结果表明全球模式对中国东部地区气温的总体分布型模拟较好,但存在冷偏差,区域模式在对这个冷偏差有所纠正的同时,提供了气温地理分布更详细的信息。全球模式模拟的年降水中心位于长江流域,与观测差别较大,区域模式对此同样也有改进,降水高值区主要位于区域南部,并表现出较强的地形强迫特征。区域模式的模拟结果还表明,至21世纪末期,在温室效应作用下,中国东部的气温将明显升高,年平均气温的升高值在2.7~4.0℃之间,其中北部升温大于南部,冬季升温大于夏季。冬季升温表现出明显的随纬度增加而增加的分布型。模拟区域内年平均降水将增加,增加值一般在10%以上,部分地区达到30%。降水增加在夏季较明显,区域内以普遍增加为主,冬季降水自山东半岛至湖南地区将减少,其他地区增加。此外,对夏季高温日数和冬季低温日数及年平均大雨日数的变化也进行了分析。     

对基于RegCM4降尺度的中国区域性暴雨事件模拟评估

基于区域气候模式RegCM4对4个全球气候模式动力降尺度模拟（分别记为CdR、EdR、HdR、MdR）以及高分辨率格点观测数据CN05.1的日降水数据,利用“追踪式”客观识别方法,对1981—2005年中国区域性暴雨事件进行了识别,并评估了模式对其气候特征的模拟性能。结果表明：4个动力降尺度模拟以及多模式集合能较好地模拟区域性暴雨事件发生频次、平均持续时间、平均降水量、平均影响范围和综合强度的年内分布特征以及气候平均值。观测的区域性暴雨事件持续时间、平均降水量、平均影响范围和综合强度在不同区间的频率分布特征以及区域性暴雨事件的累计频次、累计持续时间和累计降水量的空间分布特征也能得到很好地再现。模拟值与观测的空间相关系数都在0.9以上,且均方根误差不超过0.4。不过,相对而言,模式模拟的区域性暴雨事件频次略少,主要由对中度区域性暴雨事件低估所致;模拟的平均持续时间和平均降水量略偏高,而平均影响范围略偏小。综合强度方面,除HdR外,其余模拟均有所高估,尤其是MdR。在频率分布特征和空间分布方面,CdR的模拟性能低于其他模拟。多模式集合模拟的平均持续时间、平均降水量、平均影响范围和综合强度的相对误差分别为13%、2%、-11%和3%。     

NCAR RegCM2对1991年夏季江淮流域异常降水事件中关键物理过程的模拟能力检验(英文)

选取１９９１年夏季江淮流域发生的持续性特大暴雨洪涝个例，利用ＮＣＡＲ第二代区域气候模式ＲｅｇＣＭ２对逐日降水过程及其关键物理因子进行了数值模拟。模式的侧边界条件出ＥＣＭＷＦ的大尺度分析资料提供，模拟时间为１９９１年５－８月。模式范围包括东亚地区及相邻海域，水平分辨率为 ６０ ｋｍ × ６０ ｋｍ，垂直方向为 ２３层。试验结果显示，该模式能够合理地模拟出１９９１年夏季东亚地区的逐日降水过程，特别是在江淮流域发生的异常降水事件。对一些关键物理变量和过程时空结构的分析表明，大气垂直速度和水平散度的时间演变与江淮流域的５次降水事件一致；形成异常降水的水汽来源主要是大气的水平运动输送。西太平洋副热带高压控制着东亚夏季季风的进退，ＲｅｇＣＭ２能够模拟出西太平洋副高的南北位置移动。而且，模式能够较好地再现出对水汽输送至关重要的低空急流的逐日变化。     

Hydrological issues in lateral boundary conditions for regional climate modeling: simulation of east asian summer monsoon in 1998

The atmospheric branch of the hydrological cycle associated with the East Asian summer monsoon is intricate due to its distinct land-sea configurations: the highest mountains are to its west, the oceans are to its south and east, and mid-latitude influences come from its north. Here we use the weather research and forecast (WRF) model to demonstrate that using two different large-scale driving fields, derived from the NCEP/DOE R2 and ERA40 reanalysis data and the same model configuration yielded remarkable differences. We found that the differences are primarily caused by uncertainties in the water vapor influx across the lateral boundaries in the reanalyses. The summer-mean water vapor convergence into the model domain computed from the ERA40 reanalysis is 47% higher than that from the R2 reanalysis. The largest uncertainties in moisture transport are found in the regions of the Philippine Sea and the Bay of Bengal, where the moisture transport has the most significant impacts on the East Asian summer monsoon rainfall distribution. The sensitivity test results suggest that the biases in the seasonal mean, seasonal march of the rain band, and individual rainfall events may be reduced by using an “ensemble” average of R2 and ERA40 as lateral boundary forcing. While the large-scale forcing field does not conserve water vapor, the WRF simulation conserves water vapor in the inner model domain. The regional model simulation has corrected the biases in the total amount and the month-to-month distribution of precipitation in the large-scale driving field. However, RCM’s daily precipitation is poorer than that in the reanalysis filed. Since the RCM solutions may sensitively depend on the reanalysis forcing, intercomparison of models’ performance based on a single set of the reanalysis may not be reliable. This calls for attention to reshape our strategy for validation of RCMs.     

RegCM3模式对新疆1996年降水和气温的数值模拟分析

通过数值模拟方法,研究了降水和气温对模式分辨率、初始和边界条件的敏感性。结果表明：区域模式RegCM3对新疆1996年冬季和夏季的降水和气温具有一定的模拟能力,气温的模拟要优于降水。分辨率、初始和边界条件对区域模式的模拟结果有较大的影响。模式分辨率的提高,可以增强对气温的模拟能力,尤其是气温沿地形变化的特点。分辨率的提高,同样可以改进降水的量级和落区。相同分辨率下,不同初始和边界条件,对降水的模拟结果影响不大。无论分辨率和初始,边界条件如何变化,塔克拉玛干沙漠南麓均有虚假降水出现,说明该模式在刻画复杂地形方面,还存在不足。     

On the capability of RegCM to capture extremes in long term regional climate simulation – comparison with the observations for Czech Republic

Summary We analyze daily precipitation and temperature extremes over the Czech Republic in a regional climate simulation for the 40-year period of 1961–2000 carried out with the RegCM3 regional climate model. The model is run at 45 km grid interval and is driven by NCEP/NCAR reanalysis lateral boundary conditions. Comparison with station data shows that the model performs reasonably well in simulating the frequency of daily precipitation events of medium to high intensity as well as the precipitation intensities (return levels) of long return periods, with the exception of mountain stations. While this is attributed mainly to the relatively coarse representation of topography across the area of the Czech Republic, the parameterization of convection can be another reason. The model underestimates daily maximum temperature (especially in the warm seasons) and as a result the occurrence of heat waves (high temperature episodes). The performance of the model improves in the simulation of daily minimum temperature and cold wave events. In order to apply this regional model to the simulation of extreme events over the complex terrain as for Czech Republic we recommend that a higher resolution is used in order to better describe the topography of the Czech Republic and that the daily maximum temperature bias is reduced.     

Mean, interannual variability and trends in a regional climate change experiment over Europe. I. Present-day climate (1961–1990)

We present an analysis of a multidecadal simulation of present-day climate (1961–1990) over Europe with the regional climate model RegCM nested within the global atmospheric model HadAMH. Climatic means, interannual variability and trends are examined, with focus on surface air temperature and precipitation. The RegCM driven by HadAMH fields is able to reproduce the basic features of the observed mean surface climate over Europe, its seasonal evolution and the regional detail due to topographic forcing. Surface air temperature biases are mostly less than 1–2 °C and precipitation biases mostly within 10–20%. The RegCM has more intense vertical transport of temperature and water vapor than HadAMH, which results in lower surface air temperatures and greater precipitation than found in the HadAMH simulation. In some cases this is in the direction of greater agreement with observations, while in others it is in the opposite direction. The simulation shows a tendency to overestimate interannual variability of temperature and precipitation compared to observations, particularly during summer and over the Mediterranean regions. It is shown that in DJF, MAM and SON the RegCM interannual variability is primarily determined by the boundary forcing from HadAMH, while in JJA the internal model physics and resolution effects dominate over many subregions of the domain, and the RegCM has higher interannual variability than HadAMH. The precipitation trends simulated by the nested modeling system for the period 1961–1990 capture some features of the observed trends, in particular the cold season drying over the Mediterranean regions. Ensembles of simulations are, however, needed for a more robust assessment of the models capability to simulate climatic trends. Overall, this simulation is of good quality compared with previous nested RegCM experiments and will constitute the basis for the generation of climate change scenarios over the European region to be reported in future work.