Abstract
The long-existing double-ITCZ problem in Global Climate Models (GCMs)
hampers accurate climate simulation. Using a regional climate model
(RCM) over the tropical and sub-tropical Atlantic with a horizontal
resolution of 12 km and explicit convection, we develop a
bias-correction downscaling methodology to remove GCM biases. The
methodology is adapted from the pseudo-global warming (PGW) approach,
typically used to exert the climate-change signal to a reanalysis-driven
RCM simulation. We show that the double ITCZ problem persists with
conventional dynamical downscaling, but with our bias-corrected
downscaling, the double ITCZ problem is removed. Detailed analysis
attributes the main cause of the double ITCZ problem of the selected GCM
to the sea surface temperature (SST) bias. Compared to the GCM’s AMIP
simulations, RCMs with higher resolution allow explicit deep convection
and enable a better simulation of tropical convection and clouds. The
developed methodology is promising for constraining climate sensitivity
by removing double-ITCZ biases.