NRCM

MMM involvement in Developing a Nested Regional Climate Model

Focus: To develop a state-of-the-science nested climate model based in WRF and to provide this to the community.

Climate varies across a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. Yet, climate modeling has long been approached using global models that can resolve only the broader scales of atmospheric circulations and their interactions with convection, land, ocean surface, and sea ice. Clearly, large-scale climate determines the environment for mesoscale and microscale processes that govern the weather and local climate, but, likewise, processes that occur at the regional scale may have significant impacts on the large-scale circulation. Resolving such interactions will lead to much improved understanding of how climate both influences, and is influenced by, human activities.

A 2-way Nested Regional Climate Model (NRCM) provides an integrating research tool that is essential to address upscaling and downscaling issues. When applied at the appropriate spatial scales and locales such models can resolve climate processes across wide spectrum of scales and reduce the errors associated with physics parameterizations. They also can properly represent spatial variations of climate forcing, such as topography, lakes, and land-sea contrast; and human influence, such as air pollution and land/water use. To address the full requirements, the nested models must include both global and regional models with two-way interactions.

WRF and CCSM are ideal candidates for such coupling. Adapting the WRF model to a community NRCM that includes atmosphere, ocean, land, and other components (such as atmospheric chemistry, biogeochemistry, and sea ice) will provide an ideal tool for investigating earth system processes that cut across scales. The WRF-Chem and its development will be a critical component of this work.

NRCM

MMM involvement in Developing a Nested Regional Climate Model

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