HR: 1340h
AN: A43B-1155    [Abstracts]
TI: Present-day regional climate simulation of the North American and West African Monsoon: A comparative study
AU: * Moufouma-Okia, W
EM: wilfran.moufouma-okia@metoffice.gov.uk
AF: Met Office, A2-42 FitzRoy Rd, Exeter, EX1 3PB, United Kingdom
AU: Hassell, D
EM: david.hassell@metoffice.gov.uk
AF: Met Office, A2-42 FitzRoy Rd, Exeter, EX1 3PB, United Kingdom
AB: Predicting the climate variability in monsoon regions is a challenge for climate models. The realism of regional climate models (RCMs) depends on the quality of lateral boundary conditions (LBCs) and any systematic errors in the large-scale driving conditions will be added to the uncertainties of the model formulation. Here, we provide an attempt to quantify the systematic errors of an RCM in simulating monsoon systems by comparing simulations of the North American monsoon (NAM) and the West African monsoon (WAM). The purpose of the study is to discern whether the deficiencies arise from the model formulation or are due to dynamical problems. Using the Hadley Centre regional climate model HadAM3P at 50-km resolution, a pair of 22-year (1979-2002) simulations is conducted with the lateral boundary conditions from the NCEP-NCAR reanalysis R2 over North America and West Africa. The model validation focuses on precipitation and low level circulations at monthly, seasonal and interannual timescales. Result show that the RCM captures reasonably the basic features of NAM and WAM systems, but with different skills.
DE: 3355 Regional modeling
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting