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Role of atmospheric horizontal resolution in simulating tropical and subtropical South American precipitation in HadGEM3-GC31

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Monerie, P.-A. orcid id iconORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5304-9559, Chevuturi, A. orcid id iconORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2815-7221, Cook, P., Klingaman, N. P. orcid id iconORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2927-9303 and Holloway, C. E. orcid id iconORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9903-8989 (2020) Role of atmospheric horizontal resolution in simulating tropical and subtropical South American precipitation in HadGEM3-GC31. Geoscientific Model Development, 13 (10). pp. 4749-4771. ISSN 1991-9603 doi: 10.5194/gmd-13-4749-2020

Abstract/Summary

We assess the effect of increasing horizontal resolution on simulated precipitation over South America in a climate model. We use atmosphere-only simulations, performed with HadGEM3-GC31 at three horizontal resolutions: N96 (∼130 km; 1.88∘×1.25∘), N216 (∼60 km; 0.83∘×0.56∘), and N512 (∼25 km; 0.35∘×0.23∘). We show that all simulations have systematic biases in annual mean and seasonal mean precipitation over South America (e.g. too wet over the Amazon and too dry in the northeast). Increasing horizontal resolution improves simulated precipitation over the Andes and northeast Brazil. Over the Andes, improvements from horizontal resolution continue to ∼25 km, while over northeast Brazil, there are no improvements beyond ∼60 km resolution. These changes are primarily related to changes in atmospheric dynamics and moisture flux convergence. Over the Amazon Basin, precipitation variability increases at higher resolution. We show that some spatial and temporal features of daily South American precipitation are improved at high resolution, including the intensity spectra of rainfall. Spatial scales of daily precipitation features are also better simulated, suggesting that higher resolution may improve the representation of South American mesoscale convective systems.

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Item Type Article
URI https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/93289
Item Type Article
Refereed Yes
Divisions Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > NCAS
Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Publisher European Geosciences Union
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