WRF v.3.9 sensitivity to land surface model and horizontal resolution changes over North America
<p>Understanding the differences between regional simulations of land–atmosphere interactions and near-surface conditions is crucial for a more reliable representation of past and future climate. Here, we explore the effect of changes in the model's horizontal resolution on the simulated...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Geoscientific Model Development |
| Online Access: | https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/15/413/2022/gmd-15-413-2022.pdf |
| _version_ | 1798020620973244416 |
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| author | A. García-García A. García-García F. J. Cuesta-Valero F. J. Cuesta-Valero H. Beltrami J. F. González-Rouco E. García-Bustamante |
| author_facet | A. García-García A. García-García F. J. Cuesta-Valero F. J. Cuesta-Valero H. Beltrami J. F. González-Rouco E. García-Bustamante |
| author_sort | A. García-García |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Understanding the differences between regional simulations of land–atmosphere
interactions and near-surface conditions is crucial for a more reliable
representation of past and future climate. Here, we explore the effect of
changes in the model's horizontal resolution on the simulated energy balance
at the surface and near-surface conditions using the Weather Research and
Forecasting (WRF) model. To this aim, an ensemble of 12 simulations using
three different horizontal resolutions (25, 50 and 100 <span class="inline-formula">km</span>) and four
different land surface model (LSM) configurations over North America from 1980
to 2013 is developed. Our results show that finer resolutions lead to higher
surface net shortwave radiation and maximum temperatures at mid and high
latitudes. At low latitudes over coastal areas, an increase in resolution
leads to lower values of sensible heat flux and higher values of latent heat
flux, as well as lower values of surface temperatures and higher values of
precipitation, and soil moisture in summer. The use of finer resolutions leads
then to an increase in summer values of latent heat flux and convective and
non-convective precipitation and soil moisture at low latitudes. The effect of
the LSM choice is larger than the effect of horizontal resolution on the
near-surface temperature conditions. By contrast, the effect of the LSM choice
on the simulation of precipitation is weaker than the effect of horizontal
resolution, showing larger differences among LSM simulations in summer and
over regions with high latent heat flux. Comparison between observations and
the simulation of daily maximum and minimum temperatures and accumulated
precipitation indicates that the CLM4 LSM yields the lowest biases in maximum
and minimum mean temperatures but the highest biases in extreme
temperatures. Increasing horizontal resolution leads to larger biases in
accumulated precipitation over all regions particularly in summer. The reasons
behind this are related to the partition between convective and non-convective
precipitation, specially noticeable over western USA.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T17:00:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b737d2467203400a9a9aa5380b486d01 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1991-959X 1991-9603 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T17:00:27Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geoscientific Model Development |
| spelling | doaj.art-b737d2467203400a9a9aa5380b486d012022-12-22T04:13:10ZengCopernicus PublicationsGeoscientific Model Development1991-959X1991-96032022-01-011541342810.5194/gmd-15-413-2022WRF v.3.9 sensitivity to land surface model and horizontal resolution changes over North AmericaA. García-García0A. García-García1F. J. Cuesta-Valero2F. J. Cuesta-Valero3H. Beltrami4J. F. González-Rouco5E. García-Bustamante6Climate & Atmospheric Sciences Institute, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, CanadaDepartment of Remote Sensing, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig, GermanyClimate & Atmospheric Sciences Institute, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, CanadaDepartment of Remote Sensing, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig, GermanyClimate & Atmospheric Sciences Institute, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, CanadaPhysics of the Earth and Astrophysics Department, IGEO (UCM-CSIC), Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, SpainDepartment of Energy, Research Center for Energy, Environment and Technology (CIEMAT), Madrid, Spain<p>Understanding the differences between regional simulations of land–atmosphere interactions and near-surface conditions is crucial for a more reliable representation of past and future climate. Here, we explore the effect of changes in the model's horizontal resolution on the simulated energy balance at the surface and near-surface conditions using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. To this aim, an ensemble of 12 simulations using three different horizontal resolutions (25, 50 and 100 <span class="inline-formula">km</span>) and four different land surface model (LSM) configurations over North America from 1980 to 2013 is developed. Our results show that finer resolutions lead to higher surface net shortwave radiation and maximum temperatures at mid and high latitudes. At low latitudes over coastal areas, an increase in resolution leads to lower values of sensible heat flux and higher values of latent heat flux, as well as lower values of surface temperatures and higher values of precipitation, and soil moisture in summer. The use of finer resolutions leads then to an increase in summer values of latent heat flux and convective and non-convective precipitation and soil moisture at low latitudes. The effect of the LSM choice is larger than the effect of horizontal resolution on the near-surface temperature conditions. By contrast, the effect of the LSM choice on the simulation of precipitation is weaker than the effect of horizontal resolution, showing larger differences among LSM simulations in summer and over regions with high latent heat flux. Comparison between observations and the simulation of daily maximum and minimum temperatures and accumulated precipitation indicates that the CLM4 LSM yields the lowest biases in maximum and minimum mean temperatures but the highest biases in extreme temperatures. Increasing horizontal resolution leads to larger biases in accumulated precipitation over all regions particularly in summer. The reasons behind this are related to the partition between convective and non-convective precipitation, specially noticeable over western USA.</p>https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/15/413/2022/gmd-15-413-2022.pdf |
| spellingShingle | A. García-García A. García-García F. J. Cuesta-Valero F. J. Cuesta-Valero H. Beltrami J. F. González-Rouco E. García-Bustamante WRF v.3.9 sensitivity to land surface model and horizontal resolution changes over North America Geoscientific Model Development |
| title | WRF v.3.9 sensitivity to land surface model and horizontal resolution changes over North America |
| title_full | WRF v.3.9 sensitivity to land surface model and horizontal resolution changes over North America |
| title_fullStr | WRF v.3.9 sensitivity to land surface model and horizontal resolution changes over North America |
| title_full_unstemmed | WRF v.3.9 sensitivity to land surface model and horizontal resolution changes over North America |
| title_short | WRF v.3.9 sensitivity to land surface model and horizontal resolution changes over North America |
| title_sort | wrf v 3 9 sensitivity to land surface model and horizontal resolution changes over north america |
| url | https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/15/413/2022/gmd-15-413-2022.pdf |
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