Very high resolution regional climate model simulations over Greenland: Identifying added value
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This study presents two simulations of the climate over Greenland with
the regional climate model (RCM) HIRHAM5 at 0.05° and 0.25°
resolution driven at the lateral boundaries by the ERA-Interim
reanalysis for the period 1989–2009. These simulations are
validated against observations from meteorological stations (Danish
Meteorological Institute) at the coast and automatic weather stations on
the ice sheet (Greenland Climate Network). Generally, the temperature
and precipitation biases are small, indicating a realistic simulation of
the climate over Greenland that is suitable to drive ice sheet models.
However, the bias between the simulations and the few available
observations does not reduce with higher resolution. This is partly
explained by the lack of observations in regions where the higher
resolution is expected to improve the simulated climate. The RCM
simulations show that the temperature has increased the most in the
northern part of Greenland and at lower elevations over the period
1989–2009. Higher resolution increases the relief variability in
the model topography and causes the simulated precipitation to be larger
on the coast and smaller over the main ice sheet compared to the
lower-resolution simulation. The higher-resolution simulation likely
represents the Greenlandic climate better, but the lack of observations
makes it difficult to validate fully. The detailed temperature and
precipitation fields that are generated with the higher resolution are
recommended for producing adequate forcing fields for ice sheet models,
particularly for their improved simulation of the processes occurring at
the steep margins of the ice sheet.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences |
Volume | 117 |
Pages (from-to) | D02108 |
Number of pages | 16 |
ISSN | 2169-8953 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 25 Jan 2012 |
ID: 37607048