Added value of kilometer-scale modeling over the third pole region: a CORDEX-CPTP pilot study

• Published in: Climate dynamics 2021-10, Vol.57 (7-8), p.1673-1687
• Main Authors: Zhou, Xu, Yang, Kun, Ouyang, Lin, Wang, Yan, Jiang, Yaozhi, Li, Xin, Chen, Deliang, Prein, Andreas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atmospheric models; Climate models; Climatology; Coefficients; Convection; Convection (Meteorology); Convection-permitting; Convective clouds; Correlation coefficient; Correlation coefficients; Datasets; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth and Related Environmental Sciences; Earth Sciences; Errors; Geophysics/Geodesy; Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap; High resolution; Hydrologic processes; Hydrology; Kilometer-scale modeling; Mathematical models; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences; Oceanography; Precipitation; Resolution; Third pole region; Weather; Weather forecasting; Weather stations; Wind speed; WRF
• ISSN: 0930-7575; 1432-0894
• DOI: 10.1007/s00382-021-05653-8

High-accuracy meteorological datasets are urgently required for understanding hydrological processes across the Third Pole (Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, or TP), where meteorological stations are sparse. Low-resolution weather and climate simulations have significant errors in this region due to their inability to resolve meso-microscale processes associated with the complex terrain and convective clouds. This work presents a contribution to CORDEX Convection-Permitting Third Pole (CPTP) using dynamical downscaling of the latest global reanalysis data produced by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (i.e., ERA5) at very high resolution (approximately 0.033°) based on the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The results show that the kilometer-scale horizontal grid spacing simulation (WRF3) outperforms the ERA5 and the High Asia Refined regional reanalysis (HAR v2) in terms of smaller biases and root mean square errors, as well as higher spatial pattern correlation coefficients for 10-m wind speed and precipitation. Furthermore, WRF3 more realistically reproduces observed night-time precipitation peaks in the interior TP, while ERA5 and HAR v2 show erroneous afternoon precipitation peaks. Therefore, the added values achieved by resolving detailed physical processes when increasing grid spacing are considerable. This work demonstrates the potential for developing a reliable high resolution meteorological dataset required for research in this unique region.