Abstract

Regional climate models (RCMs) are dynamical downscaling tools aimed to improve the modelling of local physical processes. Ensembles of RCMs are widely used to improve the coarse-grain estimates of global climate models (GCMs) since the use of several RCMs helps to palliate uncertainties arising from different dynamical cores and numerical schemes methods. In this paper, we analyse the differences and similarities in the climate change response for an ensemble of heterogeneous RCMs forced by one GCM (HadAM3H), and one emissions scenario (IPCC’s SRES-A2 scenario). As a difference with previous approaches using PRUDENCE database, the statistical description of climate characteristics is made through the spatial and temporal aggregation of the RCMs outputs into probability distribution functions (PDF) of monthly values. This procedure is a complementary approach to conventional seasonal analyses. Our results provide new, stronger evidence on expected marked regional differences in Europe in the A2 scenario in terms of precipitation and temperature changes. While we found an overall increase in the mean temperature and extreme values, we also found mixed regional differences for precipitation.

Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.