High resolution WRF climatic simulations for the Iberian Peninsula: Model validation

Publication date: Available online 22 March 2016 Source:Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C Author(s): Martinho Marta-Almeida, João C. Teixeira, Maria João Carvalho, Paulo Melo-Gonçalves, Alfredo M. Rocha A high resolution atmospheric modelling study was done for a 20-year recent historical period. The dynamic downscaling approach adopted used the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM) to drive the WRF running in climate mode. Three online nested domains were used covering part of the North Atlantic and Europe, with a resolution 81 km, and reaching 9 km in the innermost domain which covers the Iberian Peninsula. This paper presents the validation of the WRF configuration, which is based on historic simulations between 1986 and 2005 and observational datasets of near surface temperature and precipitation for the same period. The validation was done in terms of comparison of probability distributions between model results and observations, as daily climatologies, spatially averaged inside subdomains obtained with cluster analysis of the observations, for each of the four seasons. In addition, Taylor diagrams are presented for each of the seasons and subdomains. This validation approach was repeated with the results of a new WRF simulation with the same parameterisations but forced by the ERA-Interim reanalysis. The capacity of the MPI-ESM driven WRF configuration to compare with observations and in a manner similar to the ERA-Interim driv...
Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - Category: Science Source Type: research