Modelling The Effects of Surface Sub-grid Variability On The Hydrologic Cycle Over Regions of Complex Terrain
Abstract
In this study, we present a parameterization of land surface processes that accounts for the sub-grid variability of landuse and topography. The parameterization, which is based on the BATS scheme, is implemented within a regional climate model (RegCM). Each atmospheric model grid cell is partitioned into a specified number of sub-grid cells over which the BATS computations are performed. Climate variables, such as surface air temperature and precipitation, are distributed according across the sub-grid cells to the high resolution topography and to the nature of precipitation processes.
A series of numerical experiments are performed over Europe and results from the new sub-grid version of the scheme are compared to those of the standard version. The comparison shows that the most important effect of the sub-grid scheme is a much more realistic representation of snowfall and other related hydrologic fields over mountainous regions. This has important implications for the simulation of the water and energy budgets not only in the cold season but also in the following months.- Publication:
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EGS General Assembly Conference Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- 2002
- Bibcode:
- 2002EGSGA..27.5657G