HR: 0800h
AN: C41A-0169    [Abstracts]
TI: Arctic Terrestrial Hydrology Simulated by CCSM3
AU: * Barrett, A
EM: apbarret@kryos.colorado.edu
AF: Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-449 United States
AU: Finnis, J
EM: Joel.Finnis@colorado.edu
AF: Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-449 United States
AU: Holland, M
EM: mholland@ucar.edu
AF: National Center for Atmospheric Research, PO Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307 United States
AU: Serreze, M
EM: serreze@kryos.colorado.edu
AF: Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-449 United States
AB: General Circulation Models are useful tools to investigate the interactions between the components of the Arctic hydrologic cycle and linkages between these components and the climate system. However, model performance must be assessed before these tools are used. In this paper, simulations of precipitation, evapotranspiration, runoff and streamflow from a control run of the Community Climate System Model, Version 3, are assessed for the Pan-Arctic region and for four major Arctic drainage basins. Spatial patterns of the long-term means and variance, and seasonal cycles of these components of the hydrologic cycle are evaluated. Observation networks in the Arctic are sparse and accurate measurements of many variables are difficult to make. Atmospheric reanalyses provide additional sources of data with which to assess climate model performance. Climate model fields are compared with estimates from the ERA-40 reanalysis, combinations of observed and model data from the Arctic-Rapid Integrated Monitoring System and with gauged streamflow. This work is part of an integrated assessment of the Arctic freshwater budget.
DE: 9315 Arctic region
DE: 1655 Water cycles (1836)
DE: 1833 Hydroclimatology
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting