loading page

Exploring Regional Climate of the Euro-Mediterranean Using a Variable-Resolution Configuration of the Global Community Earth System Model (VR-CESM)
  • +2
  • Burcu Boza,
  • Adam R Herrington,
  • Mehmet Ilicak,
  • Gokhan Danabasoglu,
  • Omer Lutfi Sen
Burcu Boza
Istanbul Technical University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile
Adam R Herrington
National Center for Atmospheric Research
Author Profile
Mehmet Ilicak
Istanbul Technical University
Author Profile
Gokhan Danabasoglu
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
Author Profile
Omer Lutfi Sen
Istanbul Technical University
Author Profile

Abstract

A Variable-Resolution, global configuration of the Community Earth System Model (VR-CESM) in which the atmosphere and land are the only active components is employed to investigate the climate of the Euro-Mediterranean region. Two variable-resolution grids with regionally-refined resolutions of 0.25° and 0.125° over the study domain, respectively, are used. The fidelity of these VR-CESM simulations is evaluated considering the near-surface air temperature and precipitation fields for the 2000-2014 period in comparison to available observation-based datasets and those of a coarse resolution (quasi-uniform 1°) control simulation. Our analysis shows that, as a global model, VR-CESM is a promising alternative to regional climate models to advance our understanding of the Euro-Mediterranean climate. The improvements obtained are mainly related to a better representation of the complex topography of the region with higher resolution. Increasing the regional resolution to 0.25° generally yields considerable improvements over the control simulation, however some persistent biases remain. Doubling the highest resolution to 0.125° leads to only modest improvements, primarily in the representation of small-scale processes including representation of extreme events that are of substantial relevance for the present and future of the regional climate.
06 Apr 2024Submitted to ESS Open Archive
16 Apr 2024Published in ESS Open Archive