I know that GCM and even RCM can model only synoptic winds because non-synoptic winds (thunderstorms, tornadoes, etc.) are too localized and of a short duration, they would need extremely high temporal and spatial resolution.
Could some colleagues please send me links to papers which deal with this topic? Thanks a lot.
Regards,
Augusto
Hi Augosto,
most mesoscale features like thunderstroms, tornadoes and sea breezes are not represented in current GCMs as the resolution of current global models is simply too coarse.
Typically, current state-of-the-science models have around 50km resolution in mid latitudes, with some of the higher resolution models getting down to a few 10s of km. So the only way to represent these smaller features is to run or embed a finer mesh regional model on a particular sub region of the globe.
Best regards
Adam
References:
Article Coordinated Global and Regional Climate Modeling
Article Regional climate modeling
Article Evaluation of an ensemble of regional climate model simulati...
You might also take a look at the CORDEX project
Best
Adam
Thank you Adam,
I was looking specifically for that type of paragraph, most papers treat the topic in very general terms.
Rgds,
Augusto
Hello Augusto,
The majority of models used in climate simulation is based on the hydrostatic primitive equations introduced by Richardson nearly 100 years ago
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259266354_Large_scale
Despite that the hydrostatic approximation is very accurate for some of the large scale flows, it breaks down in deep convection systems and in flow over mountains, just to name a few examples. This fact naturally limits the class of flows simulated by the hydrostatic climate models (even with very high resolution). An excellent reference to answer your question is provided by the paper by Gibbon and Holm: Extreme events in solution of the hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic climate models, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A (20111), 369, pp 1156-1179.
http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/roypta/369/1939/1156.full.pdf
With my best regards,
Janusz
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