scholarly journals A regional climate model hindcast for Siberia: analysis of snow water equivalent

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1017-1034 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Klehmet ◽  
B. Geyer ◽  
B. Rockel

Abstract. This study analyzes the added value of a regional climate model hindcast with respect to snow water equivalent (SWE) for Siberia when compared to SWE estimates from forcing NCEP-R. In addition, we examine the discrepancies of simulated SWE to several recent reanalysis products (NCEP-R2 NCEP-CFSR, ERA-Interim). We apply the regional climate model COSMO-CLM (CCLM) to a 50 km grid spacing using NCEP-R1 as driving force to obtain a 63 yr (1948 to 2010) gridded dataset of historical SWE. Simulated regional climate data is necessary because of the absence of station data in that region. To perform large-scale assessments we use the satellite-derived daily SWE product of ESA DUE GlobSnow from 1987 to 2010. Russian station SWE data is used for cross-checking the findings. In January (mid-winter), the SWE hindcast is in good agreement with GlobSnow, whereas it overestimates SWE during the melting season. CCLM shows a clear added value in providing realistic SWE information compared to the driving reanalysis. The temporal consistency of CCLM is higher than that presented by ERA-Interim and NCEP-R2.

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 4637-4671
Author(s):  
K. Klehmet ◽  
B. Geyer ◽  
B. Rockel

Abstract. This study analyzes the added value of a regional climate model hindcast of CCLM compared to global reanalyses in providing a reconstruction of recent past snow water equivalent (SWE) for Siberia. Consistent regional climate data in time and space is necessary due to lack of station data in that region. We focus on SWE since it represents an important snow cover parameter in a region where snow has the potential to feed back to the climate of the whole Northern Hemisphere. The simulation was performed in a 50 km grid spacing for the period 1948 to 2010 using NCEP Reanalysis 1 as boundary forcing. Daily observational reference data for the period of 1987–2010 was obtained by the satellite derived SWE product of ESA DUE GlobSnow that enables a large scale assessment. The analyses includes comparisons of the distribution of snow cover extent, example time series of monthly SWE for January and April, regional characteristics of long-term monthly mean, standard deviation and temporal correlation averaged over subregions. SWE of CCLM is compared against the SWE information of NCEP-R1 itself and three more reanalyses (NCEP-R2, NCEP-CFSR, ERA-Interim). We demonstrate a significant added value of the CCLM hindcast during snow accumulation period shown for January for many subregions compared to SWE of NCEP-R1. NCEP-R1 mostly underestimates SWE during whole snow season. CCLM overestimates SWE compared to the satellite-derived product during April – a month representing the beginning of snow melt in southern regions. We illustrate that SWE of the regional hindcast is more consistent in time than ERA-Interim and NCEP-R2 and thus add realistic detail.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ole B. Christensen ◽  
Erik Kjellström

AbstractCollections of large ensembles of regional climate model (RCM) downscaled climate data for particular regions and scenarios can be organized in a usually incomplete matrix consisting of GCM (global climate model) x RCM combinations. When simple ensemble averages are calculated, each GCM will effectively be weighted by the number of times it has been downscaled. In order to facilitate more equal and less arbitrary weighting among downscaled GCM results, we present a method to emulate the missing combinations in such a matrix, enabling equal weighting among participating GCMs and hence among regional consequences of large-scale climate change simulated by each GCM. This method is based on a traditional Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) approach. The method is applied and studied for fields of seasonal average temperature, precipitation and surface wind and for the 10-year return value of daily precipitation and of 10-m wind speed for a completely filled matrix consisting of 5 GCMs and 4 RCMs. We quantify the skill of the two averaging methods for different numbers of missing simulations and show that ensembles where lacking members have been emulated by the ANOVA technique are better at representing the full ensemble than corresponding simple ensemble averages, particularly in cases where only a few model combinations are absent. The technique breaks down when the number of missing simulations reaches the sum of the numbers of GCMs and RCMs. Also, the method is only useful when inter-simulation variability is limited. This is the case for the average fields that have been studied, but not for the extremes. We have developed analytical expressions for the degree of improvement obtained with the present method, which quantify this conclusion.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ole Bøssing Christensen ◽  
Erik Kjellström

Abstract Collections of large ensembles of regional climate model (RCM) downscaled climate data for particular regions and scenarios can be organized in a usually incomplete matrix consisting of GCM (global climate model) x RCM combinations. When simple ensemble averages are calculated, each GCM will effectively be weighted by the number of times it has been downscaled. In order to facilitate more equal and less random weighting among downscaled GCM results, we present a method to emulate the missing combinations in such a matrix, enabling equal weighting among participating GCMs and hence among regional consequences of large-scale climate change simulated by each GCM. This method is based on a traditional Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) approach. The method is applied and studied for fields of seasonal average temperature, precipitation and surface wind and for the 10-year return value of daily precipitation and of 10-m wind speed for a completely filled matrix consisting of 5 GCMs and 4 RCMs. We quantify the skill of the two averaging methods for different numbers of missing simulations and show that ensembles where lacking members have been emulated by the ANOVA technique are better at representing the full ensemble than corresponding simple ensemble averages, particularly in cases where only a few model combinations are absent. The technique breaks down when the number of missing simulations reaches the sum of the numbers of GCMs and RCMs.


2006 ◽  
Vol 134 (3) ◽  
pp. 854-873 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soline Bielli ◽  
René Laprise

Abstract The purpose of this work is to study the added value of a regional climate model with respect to the global analyses used to drive the regional simulation, with a special emphasis on the nonlinear interactions between different spatial scales, focusing on the moisture flux divergence. The atmospheric water budget is used to apply the spatial-scale decomposition approach, as it is a key factor in the energetics of the climate. A Fourier analysis is performed individually for each field on pressure levels. Each field involved in the computation of moisture flux divergence is separated into three components that represent selected scale bands, using the discrete cosine transform. The divergence of the moisture flux is computed from the filtered fields. Instantaneous and monthly mean fields from a simulation performed with the Canadian Regional Climate Model are decomposed and allowed to separate the added value of the model to the total fields. Results show that the added value resides in the nonlinear interactions between large (greater than 1000 km) and small (smaller than 600 km) scales. The main small-scale forcing of the wind is topographic, whereas the humidity tends to show more small scales over the ocean. The time-mean divergence of moisture flux is also decomposed into contributions from stationary eddies and transient eddies. Both stationary and transient eddies are decomposed into different spatial scales and show very different patterns. The time-mean divergence due to transient eddies is dominated by large-scale (synoptic scale) features with little small scales. The divergence due to stationary eddies is a combination of small- and large-scale terms, and the main small-scale contribution occurs over the topography. The same decomposition has been applied to the NCEP–NCAR reanalyses used to drive the regional simulation; the results show that the model best reproduces the time-fluctuation component of the moisture flux divergence, with a correlation between the model simulation and the NCEP–NCAR reanalyses above 0.90.


2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 3813-3838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thierry C. Fotso-Nguemo ◽  
Derbetini A. Vondou ◽  
Wilfried M. Pokam ◽  
Zéphirin Yepdo Djomou ◽  
Ismaïla Diallo ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Ehmele ◽  
Lisa-Ann Kautz ◽  
Hendrik Feldmann ◽  
Yi He ◽  
Martin Kadlec ◽  
...  

<p>Enduring and extensive heavy precipitation associated with widespread river floods are among the main natural hazards affecting Central Europe. Since such events are characterized by long return periods, it is difficult to adequately quantify their frequency and intensity solely based on the available observations of precipitation. Furthermore, long-term observations are rare, not homogeneous in space and time, and thus not suitable to run hydrological models (HMs). To overcome this issue, we make use of the recently introduced LAERTES-EU (LArge Ensemble of Regional climaTe modEl Simulations for EUrope) data set, which is an ensemble of regional climate model simulations providing 12.000 simulated years. LAERTES-EU is adapted and applied for the use in an HM to calculate discharges for large river catchments in Central Europe, where the Rhine catchment serves as the pilot area for calibration and validation. Quantile mapping with a fixed density function is used to correct the bias in model precipitation. The results show clear improvements in the representation of both precipitation (e.g., annual cycle and intensity distributions) and simulated discharges by the HM after the bias correction. Furthermore, the large size of LAERTES-EU improves the statistical representativeness also for high return values of precipitation and discharges. While for the Rhine catchment a clear added value is identified, the results are more mixed for other catchments (e.g., the Upper Danube).</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 1205-1225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Verseghy ◽  
Ross Brown ◽  
Libo Wang

Abstract The Canadian Land Surface Scheme (CLASS), version 3.6.1, was run offline for the period 1990–2011 over a domain centered on eastern Canada, driven by atmospheric forcing data dynamically downscaled from ERA-Interim using the Canadian Regional Climate Model. The precipitation inputs were adjusted to replicate the monthly average precipitation reported in the CRU observational database. The simulated fractional snow cover and the surface albedo were evaluated using NOAA Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System and MODIS data, and the snow water equivalent was evaluated using CMC, Global Snow Monitoring for Climate Research (GlobSnow), and Hydro-Québec products. The modeled fractional snow cover agreed well with the observational estimates. The albedo of snow-covered areas showed a bias of up to −0.15 in boreal forest regions, owing to neglect of subgrid-scale lakes in the simulation. In June, conversely, there was a positive albedo bias in the remaining snow-covered areas, likely caused by neglect of impurities in the snow. The validation of the snow water equivalent was complicated by the fact that the three observation-based datasets differed widely. Also, the downward adjustment of the forcing precipitation clearly resulted in a low snow bias in some regions. However, where the density of the observations was high, the CLASS snow model was deemed to have performed well. Sensitivity tests confirmed the satisfactory behavior of the current parameterizations of snow thermal conductivity, snow albedo refreshment threshold, and limiting snow depth and underlined the importance of snow interception by vegetation. Overall, the study demonstrated the necessity of using a wide variety of observation-based datasets for model validation.


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