Reply on RC1

Abstract

This study presents the application of dynamical downscaling in Europe using iLOVECLIM (a model of intermediate complexity), increasing its resolution from 5.56° to 0.25° latitude-longitude. A transient simulation using the appropriate climate forcings for the entire Holocene (11.5–0 kyr BP) was done for both the standard version of the model and with dynamical downscaling applied. Our results show that, simulations from dynamical downscaling present spatial variability which agrees better with proxy-based reconstruction and other climate models as compared to the standard model. The downscaling scheme simulates much higher (by at least a factor of two) precipitation maxima and provides detailed information in mountainous regions. We focus on examples from the Scandes Mountains, the Alps, the Scottish Highlands and the Mediterranean. The higher spatial resolution of the dynamical downscaling provides a more realistic overview of the topography, gives local climate information such as precipitation and temperature gradient that is important for paleoclimate studies. The results from the downscaling show in some cases similar magnitude of the precipitation changes reconstructed by other proxy studies (for example in the Alps). There is also a good agreement for the overall trend and spatial pattern than the standard version. Our downscaling tool is numerically cheap which can perform kilometric-multi-millennial simulations and suitable for future studies.