Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Challenging some tenets of Regional Climate Modelling

  • Published:
Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Nested Regional Climate Models (RCMs) are increasingly used for climate-change projections in order to achieve spatial resolutions that would be computationally prohibitive with coupled global climate models. RCMs are commonly thought to behave as a sort of sophisticated magnifying glass to perform dynamical downscaling, which is to add fine-scale details upon the large-scale flow provided as time-dependent lateral boundary condition.

Regional climate modelling is a relatively new approach, initiated less than twenty years ago. The interest for the approach has grown rapidly as it offers a computationally affordable means of entering into appealing applications of timely societal relevance, such as high-resolution climate-change projections and seasonal prediction. There exists however a need for basic research aiming at establishing firmly the strengths and limitations of the technique.

This paper synthesises the results of a stream of investigations on the merits and weaknesses of the nested approach, initiated almost a decade ago by some members of our team. This short paper revisits some commonly accepted notions amongst practitioners of Regional Climate Modelling, in the form of four tenets that will be challenged: (1) RCMs are capable of generating small-scale features absent in the driving fields supplied as lateral boundary conditions; (2) The generated small scales have the appropriate amplitudes and statistics; (3) The generated small scales accurately represent those that would be present in the driving data if it were not limited by resolution; (4) In performing dynamical downscaling, RCMs operate as a kind of sophisticated magnifying glass, in the sense that the small scales that are generated are uniquely defined for a given set of lateral boundary conditions (LBC). From the partial failure of the last two tenets emerges the notion of internal variability, which has often been thought to be negligible in one-way nested models due to the control exerted by the imposed lateral boundary conditions. A fifth tenet is also discussed, relating to the handling within the RCM domain of the large scales used to drive the RCM at the LBC. We close the article with an appeal to the RCM community to spend more effort in basic research in order to tackle a number of lingering issues that otherwise could jeopardize the credibility of the tool.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • A Alexandru R de Elía R Laprise (2007) ArticleTitleInternal variability in regional climate downscaling at the seasonal time scale Mon Wea Rev 135 IssueID9 3221–3238 Occurrence Handle10.1175/MWR3456.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CJ Anderson RW Arritt ES Takle Z Pan WJ Gutowski R da Silva SuffixJr D Caya JH Christensen D Luthi MA Gaertenr C Gallardo F Giorgi R Laprise S-Y Hong C Jones H-MH Juang JJ Katzfey JL McGregor WM Lapenta JW Larson JA Taylor GE Liston RA Pielke SuffixSr JO Roads (2003) ArticleTitleHydrological processes in regional climate model Simulations of the central United States flood of June–July 1993 J Hydromet 4 584–598 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1525-7541(2003)004<0584:HPIRCM>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • H Annamalai JM Slingo KR Sperber K Hodges (1999) ArticleTitleThe mean evolution and variability of the Asian summer monsoon: comparison of ECMWF and NCEP-NCAR reanalyses Mon Wea Rev 127 IssueID6 1157–1186 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0493(1999)127<1157:TMEAVO>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • RA Anthes Y-H Kuo SG Benjamin YF Li (1982) ArticleTitleThe evolution of the mesoscale environment of severe local storms: preliminary modeling results Mon Wea Rev 110 1187–1213 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0493(1982)110<1187:TEOTME>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • RA Anthes Y-H Kuo DP Baumhefner RM Errico TW Bettge (1985) ArticleTitlePredictability of mesoscale atmospheric motions Adv Geophys 28b 159–202 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0065-2687(08)60188-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • RA Anthes Y-H Kuo E-Y Hsie S Low-Nam TW Bettge (1989) ArticleTitleEstimation of skill and uncertainty in regional numerical models Quart J Roy Meteor Soc 115 763–806 Occurrence Handle10.1002/qj.49711548803

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • S Antic R Laprise B Denis R de Elía (2005) ArticleTitleTesting the downscaling ability of a one-way nested regional climate model in regions of complex topography Clim Dyn 23 473–493 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s00382-004-0438-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DA Bailey AH Lynch (2000) ArticleTitleDevelopment of an Antarctic regional climate system model: Part 2. Station validation and surface energy balance J Climate 13 1351–1361 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0442(2000)013<1351:DOAARC>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bärring L, Laprise R (eds) (2005) High-resolution climate modelling: assessment, added value and applications. Extended Abstracts of a WMO/WCRP-sponsored regional-scale climate modelling Workshop, 29 March–2 April 2004, Lund (Sweden). Lund University electronic reports in physical geography, 132 pp (http://www.nateko.lu.se/ELibrary/Lerpg/5/Lerpg5Article.pdf)

  • Biner S, Caya D, Laprise R, Spacek L (2000) Nesting of RCMs by imposing large scales. In: Research Activities in Atmospheric and Oceanic Modelling, WMO/TD – No. 987, Report No. 30, pp. 7.3–7.4

  • CL Castro RA Pielke SuffixSr G Leoncini (2005) ArticleTitleDynamical downscaling: an assessment of value added using a regional climate model J Geophys Res (Atmos) 110 D05108 Occurrence Handle10.1029/2004JD004721

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D Caya R Laprise M Giguère G Bergeron JP Blanchet BJ Stocks GJ Boer NA McFarlane (1995) ArticleTitleDescription of the Canadian RCM Water Air Soil Poll 82 IssueID1/2 477–482 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF01182857

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D Caya R Laprise (1999) ArticleTitleA semi-Lagrangian semi-implicit regional climate model: the Canadian RCM Mon Wea Rev 127 IssueID3 341–362 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0493(1999)127<0341:ASISLR>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D Caya S Biner (2004) ArticleTitleInternal variability of RCM simulations over an annual cycle Clim Dyn 22 IssueID1 33–46 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s00382-003-0360-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OB Christensen MA Gaertner JA Prego J Polcher (2001) ArticleTitleInternal variability of regional climate models Clim Dyn 17 875–887 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s003820100154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christensen JH, Carter TR, Rummukainen M (2007) Evaluating the performance and utility of regional climate models: the PRUDENCE project. Climatic Change; DOI: 10.1007/s10584-006-9211-6

  • S Cocke TE LaRow (2000) ArticleTitleSeasonal predictions using a regional spectral model embedded within a coupled ocean-atmosphere model Mon Wea Rev 128 689–708 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0493(2000)128<0689:SPUARS>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • JA Curry AH Lynch (2002) ArticleTitleComparing Arctic regional climate models EOS, Trans Amer Geophys Union 83 87

    Google Scholar 

  • R de Elía R Laprise B Denis (2002) ArticleTitleForecasting skill limits of nested, limited-area models: a perfect-model approach Mon Wea Rev 130 2006–2023 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0493(2002)130<2006:FSLONL>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R de Elía R Laprise (2003) ArticleTitleDistribution-oriented verification of limited-area models forecast in a perfect-model framework Mon Wea Rev 131 2492–2509 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0493(2003)131<2492:DVOLMF>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Elía R, Caya D, Côté H, Frigon A, Biner S, Giguère M, Paquin D, Harvey R, Plummer D (2007) Evaluation of uncertainties in the CRCM-simulated North American climate. Clim Dyn; DOI: 10.1007/s00382-007-0288-z

  • B Denis J Côté R Laprise (2002a) ArticleTitleSpectral decomposition of two-dimensional atmospheric fields on limited-area domains using discrete cosine transforms (DFT) Mon Wea Rev 130 IssueID7 1812–1829 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0493(2002)130<1812:SDOTDA>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • B Denis R Laprise D Caya J Côté (2002b) ArticleTitleDownscaling ability of one-way-nested regional climate models: the Big-Brother experiment Clim Dyn 18 627–646 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s00382-001-0201-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • B Denis R Laprise D Caya (2003) ArticleTitleSensitivity of a regional climate model to the spatial resolution and temporal updating frequency of the lateral boundary conditions Clim Dyn 20 107–126

    Google Scholar 

  • Déqué M, Rowell DP, Lüthi D, Giorgi F, Christensen JH, Rockel B, Jacob D, Kjellström E, de Castro M, van den Hurk B (2006) An intercomparison of regional climate simulations for Europe: assessing uncertainties in model projections. Climate Change (in press)

  • SP de Szoeke Y Wang S-P Xie T Miyama (2006) ArticleTitleEffect of shallow cumulus convection on the eastern Pacific climate in a coupled model Geophys Res Lett 33 L17713 Occurrence Handle10.1029/2006GL026715

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • EP Diaconescu R Laprise L Sushama (2007) ArticleTitleThe impact of lateral boundary data errors on the simulated climate of a nested Regional Climate Model Clim Dyn 28 IssueID4 333–350 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s00382-006-0189-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • RE Dickinson RM Errico F Giorgi GT Bates (1989) ArticleTitleA regional climate model for the western United States Climatic Change 15 383–422

    Google Scholar 

  • M Dimitrijevic R Laprise (2005) ArticleTitleValidation of the nesting technique in an RCM and sensitivity tests to the resolution of the lateral boundary conditions during summer Clim Dyn 25 555–580 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s00382-005-0023-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Döscher U Willen C Jones A Rutgersson HE Meier U Hansson PL Graham (2002) ArticleTitleThe development of the coupled ocean-atmosphere model RCAO Boreal Environ Res 7 183–192

    Google Scholar 

  • RM Errico (1985) ArticleTitleSpectra computed from a limited area grid Mon Wea Rev 113 1554–1562 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0493(1985)113<1554:SCFALA>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • F Feser H von Storch (2006) ArticleTitleA spatial two-dimensional discrete filter for limited area model evaluation purposes Mon Wea Rev 133 IssueID6 1774–1786 Occurrence Handle10.1175/MWR2939.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • F Feser (2006) ArticleTitleEnhanced detectability of added value in limited area model results separated into different spatial scales Mon Wea Rev 134 IssueID8 2180–2190 Occurrence Handle10.1175/MWR3183.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox-Rabinovitz MS, Côté J, Dugas B, Déqué M, McGregor J, Gleckler P (2005) The international Stretched-Grid Model Intercomparison Project (SGMIP). Amer Meteor Soc (http://ams.confex.com/ams/Annual2005/techprogram/paper_83463.htm)

  • C Frei JH Christensen M Déqué D Jacob RG Jones PL Vidale (2003) ArticleTitleDaily precipitation statistics in regional climate models: evaluation and intercomparison for the European Alps J Geophys Res (Atmos) 108 IssueIDD3 4124 Occurrence Handle10.1029/2002JD002287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • C Fu S Wang Z Xiong WJ Gutowski D-K Lee JL McGregor Y Sato H Kato J-W Kim M-S Suh (2005) ArticleTitleRegional climate model intercomparison project for Asia Bull Amer Meteor Soc 86 IssueID2 257–266 Occurrence Handle10.1175/BAMS-86-2-257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • AL Gibelin M Déqué (2003) ArticleTitleAnthropogenic climate change over the Mediterranean region simulated by a global variable resolution model Clim Dyn 20 327–339

    Google Scholar 

  • F Giorgi GT Bates (1989) ArticleTitleThe climatological skill of a regional model over complex terrain Mon Wea Rev 117 2325–2347 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0493(1989)117<2325:TCSOAR>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • F Giorgi X Bi (2000) ArticleTitleA study of internal variability of a regional climate model J Geophys Res 105 29503–29521 Occurrence Handle10.1029/2000JD900269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • F Giorgi LO Mearns (1991) ArticleTitleApproaches to the simulation of regional climate change: a review Rev Geophys 29 191–216 Occurrence Handle10.1029/90RG02636

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D Herceg AH Sobel L Sun SE Zebiak (2006) ArticleTitleThe big brother experiment and seasonal predictability in the NCEP regional spectral model Clim Dyn 26 IssueID4 1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2007) Climate change 2007: the physical science basis. In: Solomon S, Qin D, Manning M, Chen Z, Marquis M, Averyt KB, Tignor M, Miller HL (eds) Contribution of the Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York

  • RG Jones JM Murphy M Noguer (1995) ArticleTitleSimulation of climate change over Europe using a nested regional-climate model. I: Assessment of control climate, including sensitivity to location of lateral boundaries Quart J Roy Meteor Soc 121 1413–1449

    Google Scholar 

  • RG Jones JM Murphy M Noguer AB Keen (1997) ArticleTitleSimulation of climate change over Europe using a nested regional climate model. Part II: Comparison of driving and regional model responses to a doubling of carbon dioxide Quart J Roy Met Soc 123 265–292

    Google Scholar 

  • H-MH Juang S-Y Hong (2001) ArticleTitleSensitivity of the NCEP regional spectral model to domain size and nesting strategy Mon Wea Rev 129 2904–2922 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0493(2001)129<2904:SOTNRS>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • H-C Kuo RT Williams (1992) ArticleTitleBoundary effects in regional spectral models Mon Wea Rev 120 2986–2992 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0493(1992)120<2986:BEIRSM>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • H-C Kuo RT Williams (1998) ArticleTitleScale-dependent accuracy in regional spectral models Mon Wea Rev 126 2640–2647 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0493(1998)126<2640:SDAIRS>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Laprise D Caya M Giguère G Bergeron H Côté J-P Blanchet GJ Boer NA McFarlane (1998) ArticleTitleClimate and climate change in Western Canada as simulated by the Canadian regional climate model Atmos Ocean XXXVI IssueID2 119–167

    Google Scholar 

  • R Laprise M RaviVarma B Denis D Caya I Zawadzki (2000) ArticleTitlePredictability in a nested limited-area model Mon Wea Rev 128 IssueID12 4149–4154 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0493(2000)129<4149:POANLA>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laprise R, Jones R, Kirtman B, von Storch H, Wergen W (2002) Atmospheric regional climate models (RCMs): a multiple purpose tool? Report of the Joint WGNE/WGCM ad hoc panel on regional climate modelling, 19 pp (available from the corresponding author)

  • R Laprise D Caya A Frigon D Paquin (2003) ArticleTitleCurrent and perturbed climate as simulated by the second-generation Canadian Regional Climate Model (CRCM-II) over northwestern North America Clim Dyn 21 405–421 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s00382-003-0342-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Laprise (2003) ArticleTitleResolved scales and nonlinear interactions in limited-area models J Atmos Sci 60 IssueID5 768–779 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0469(2003)060<0768:RSANII>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laprise R (2008) Regional climate modelling. J Comp Phys, 227, Special issue on Predicting Weather, Climate and Extreme Events (by invitation), 3641–3666

  • Leduc M, Laprise R (2008) Regional Climate Model sensitivity to domain size. Clim Dyn (accepted)

  • P Lorenz D Jacob (2005) ArticleTitleInfluence of regional scale information on the global circulation: a two-way nesting climate simulation Geophys Res Lett 32 L18706 Occurrence Handle10.1029/2005GL023351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas-Picher P, Caya D, de Elía R, Laprise R (2008) Investigation of regional climate models’ internal variability with a ten-member ensemble of ten years over a large domain. Clim Dyn (accepted); DOI: 10.1007/s00382-003-0384-8

  • JL McGregor (1997) ArticleTitleRegional climate modelling Meteorol Atmos Phys 63 105–117 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF01025367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGregor JL, Nguyen KC, Katzfey JJ (2002) Regional climate simulations using a stretched-grid global model. In: Ritchie H (ed) Research activities in atmospheric and oceanic modelling. Report No. 32, WMO/TD – No. 1105, pp. 3.15–16

  • Mearns LO, Arritt R, Boer G, Caya D, Duffy P, Giorgi F, Gutowski WJ, Held IM, Jones R, Laprise R, Leung LR, Pal J, Roads R, Sloan L, Stouffer R, Takle G, Washington W (2005) NARCCAP – North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program: A Multiple AOGCM and RCM Climate Scenario Project over North America. Preprints of the Amer. Meteor. Soc. 16th Conf. on Climate Variations and Change. 9–13 January 2005. Paper J6.10, pp. 235–8

  • GA Meehl GJ Boer C Covey M Latif RJ Stouffer (2000) ArticleTitleThe coupled model intercomparison project (CMIP) Bull Amer Meteor Soc 81 IssueID2 313–318 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0477(2000)081<0313:TCMIPC>2.3.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mesinger F, Brill K, Chuang H, DiMego G, Rogers E (2002) Limited area predictability: can upscaling also take place? Research activities in atmospheric and oceanic modelling. Report No. 32, WMO/TD – No. 1105, pp. 5.30–1

  • G Miguez-Macho GL Stenchikov A Robock (2004) ArticleTitleSpectral nudging to eliminate the effects of domain position and geometry in regional climate model simulations J Geophys Res 109 IssueIDD13 D13104 Occurrence Handle10.1029/2003JD004495

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • K Miyakoda A Rosati (1977) ArticleTitleOne-way nested grid models: the interface conditions and the numerical accuracy Mon Wea Rev 105 1092–1107 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0493(1977)105<1092:OWNGMT>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M New M Hulme P Jones (2000) ArticleTitleRepresenting twentieth-century space-time climate variability. Part II: Development of 1901–1996 monthly grids of terrestrial surface climate J Clim 13 2217–2238 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0442(2000)013<2217:RTCSTC>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P Nutter D Stensrud M Xue (2004) ArticleTitleEffects of coarsely resolved and temporally interpolated lateral boundary conditions on the dispersion of limited-area ensemble forecasts Mon Wea Rev 132 IssueID10 2358–2377 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0493(2004)132<2358:EOCRAT>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riette S, Caya D (2002) Sensitivity of short simulations to the various parameters in the new CRCM spectral nudging. In: Ritchie H (ed) Research activities in atmospheric and oceanic modelling. WMO/TD – No 1105, Report No. 32, pp. 7.39–40

  • A Rinke K Dethloff (2000) ArticleTitleOn the sensitivity of a regional Arctic climate model to initial and boundary conditions Clim Res 14 IssueID2 101–113 Occurrence Handle10.3354/cr014101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A Rinke R Gerdes K Dethloff T Kandlbinder M Karcher F Kauker S Frickenhaus C Köberle W Hiller (2003) ArticleTitleA case study of the anomalous Arctic sea ice conditions during 1990: insights from coupled and uncoupled regional climate model simulations J Geophys Res 108 IssueIDD9 4275 Occurrence Handle10.1029/2002JD003146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A Rinke P Marbaix K Dethloff (2004) ArticleTitleInternal variability in Arctic regional climate simulations: case study for the SHEBA year Clim Res 27 197–209 Occurrence Handle10.3354/cr027197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A Rinke K Dethloff JJ Cassano JH Christensen JA Curry P Du E Girard J-E Haugen D Jacob CG Jones M Køltzow R Laprise AH Lynch S Pfeifer MC Serreze MJ Shaw M Tjernström K Wyser M Zagar (2005) ArticleTitleEvaluation of an ensemble of Arctic regional climate models: spatiotemporal fields during the SHEBA year Clim Dyn 26 IssueID5 459–472 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s00382-005-0095-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • H Sasaki K Kurihara I Takayabu K Murazaki Y Sato H Tsujino (2006) ArticleTitlePreliminary results from the coupled atmosphere-ocean regional climate model developed at Meteorological Research Institute J Meteor Soc Japan 84 389–403 Occurrence Handle10.2151/jmsj.84.389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A Segami K Kurihara H Nakamura M Ueno I Takano Y Tatsumi (1989) ArticleTitleOperational mesoscale weather prediction with Japan spectral model J Meteor Soc Japan 67 907–923

    Google Scholar 

  • KH Seo JKE Schemm W Wang A Kumar (2007) ArticleTitleThe boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation simulated in the NCEP climate forecast system: the effect of sea surface temperature Mon Wea Rev 135 1807–1827 Occurrence Handle10.1175/MWR3369.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Separovic L, de Elía R, Laprise R (2008) Reproducible and irreproducible components in ensemble simulations of a regional climate model. Clim Dyn (accepted)

  • A Staniforth (1997) ArticleTitleRegional modelling: a theoretical discussion Meteorol Atmos Phys 63 IssueID1–2 15–29 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF01025361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M Stowasser Y Wang K Hamilton (2007) ArticleTitleTropical cyclone changes in the Western North Pacific in a global warming scenario J Climate 20 2378–2396 Occurrence Handle10.1175/JCLI4126.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ES Takle WJ Gutowski SuffixJr RW Arritt Z Pan CJ Anderson R Silva D Caya S-C Chen JH Christensen S-Y Hong H-MH Juang JJ Katzfey WM Lapenta R Laprise P Lopez J McGregor JO Roads (1999) ArticleTitleProject to intercompare regional climate simulations (PIRCS): description and initial results J Geophys Res 104 19,443–19,462 Occurrence Handle10.1029/1999JD900352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Y Tatsumi (1986) ArticleTitleA spectral limited-area model with time dependent lateral boundary conditions and its application to a multi-level primitive equation model J Meteor Soc Japan 64 637–663

    Google Scholar 

  • Vanvyve E, Hall N, Messager C, Leroux S, van Ypersele J-P (2007) Internal variability in a regional model over West Africa. Clim Dyn; DOI: 10.1007/s00382-007-0281-6

  • H von Storch H Langenberg F Feser (2000) ArticleTitleA spectral nudging technique for dynamical downscaling purposes Mon Wea Rev 128 3664–3673 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0493(2000)128<3664:ASNTFD>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Y Wang OL Sen B Wang (2003) ArticleTitleA highly resolved regional climate model (IPRC-RegCM) and its simulation of the 1998 severe precipitation event over China. Part I: Model description and verification of simulation J Climate 16 1721–1738 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0442(2003)016<1721:AHRRCM>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Y Wang LR Leung JL McGregor D-K Lee W-C Wang Y Ding F Kimura (2004) ArticleTitleRegional climate modelling: progress, challenges, and prospects J Meteor Soc Japan 82 IssueID6 1599–1628 Occurrence Handle10.2151/jmsj.82.1599

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • TT Warner RA Peterson RE Treadon (1997) ArticleTitleA tutorial on lateral conditions as a basic and potentially serious limitation to regional numerical weather prediction Bull Amer Meteor Soc 78 IssueID11 2599–2617 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0477(1997)078<2599:ATOLBC>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WGNE (1999) Report of Fourteenth Session of the CAS/JSC Working Group on Numerical Experimentation (Recherche en Prévision Numérique, Environment Canada, Dorval Québec, Canada, 2–6 November 1998), Report No. 14, WMO/TD – No. 964, World Meteor. Org., 28 pp

  • WGNE (2000) Report of Fifteenth Session of the CAS/JSC Working Group on Numerical Experimentation (Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, CA, USA, 25–29 October 1999), Report No. 15, WMO/TD – No. 1024, World Meteor. Org., 29 pp

  • R Weisse H Heyen H von Storch (2000) ArticleTitleSensitivity of a regional atmospheric model to a sea state-dependent roughness and the need for ensemble calculations Mon Wea Rev 128 IssueID10 3631–3642 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0493(2000)128<3631:SOARAM>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • W Wu AH Lynch A Rivers (2005) ArticleTitleEstimating the uncertainty in a regional climate model related to initial and lateral boundary conditions J Climate 18 917–933 Occurrence Handle10.1175/JCLI-3293.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SP Xie T Miyama Y Wang H Xu SP de Szoeke RJO Small KJ Richards T Mochizuki T Awaji (2007) ArticleTitleA regional ocean-atmosphere model for eastern pacific climate: toward reducing tropical biases J Climate 20 1504–1522 Occurrence Handle10.1175/JCLI4080.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • KS Yeh J Côté S Gravel A Méthot A Patoine M Roch A Staniforth (2002) ArticleTitleThe CMC–MRB global environmental multiscale (GEM) model. Part III: Nonhydrostatic formulation Mon Wea Rev 130 IssueID2 339–356 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0493(2002)130<0339:TCMGEM>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université du Québec, Montréal, Québec, Canada

    R. Laprise, R. de Elía, D. Caya, P. Lucas-Picher, E. Diaconescu, M. Leduc, A. Alexandru & L. Separovic

  2. Consortium Ouranos, Montréal, Québec, Canada

    R. de Elía, D. Caya & S. Biner

Authors
  1. R. Laprise
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. de Elía
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. D. Caya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. S. Biner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. P. Lucas-Picher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. E. Diaconescu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. M. Leduc
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. A. Alexandru
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. L. Separovic
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Consortia

Canadian Network for Regional Climate Modelling and Diagnostics

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Laprise.

Additional information

Correspondence: René Laprise, Centre ESCER pour l’Étude et la Simulation du Climat à l’Échelle Régionale, UQÀM Ouranos, 550 Sherbrooke St West, 19th Floor, West Tower, Montréal, Québec, H3A 1B9 Canada

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Laprise, R., de Elía, R., Caya, D. et al. Challenging some tenets of Regional Climate Modelling. Meteorol Atmos Phys 100, 3–22 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-008-0292-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-008-0292-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation