Article (Scientific journals)
Representation of the rain shadow effect in Patagonia using an orographic‐derived regional climate model
Damseaux, Adrien; Fettweis, Xavier; Lambert, Marius et al.
2019In International Journal of Climatology
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Abstract :
[en] This study focuses on Patagonia, where Foehn events observed in the lee of the Andes mountains are not yet well simulated by state‐of‐the‐art climate models. It has been agreed that one source of this shortcoming is related to the poor relief representation in models. To resolve this need, a common method used is to enhance the spatial resolution of the model to retrieve a more complex surface elevation, at the expense of calculation time or surface area covered. This paper tackles the problem from a different angle by addressing the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) generalization, .i.e. the altitudes generalization from a high‐resolution DEM to a coarser resolution grid model. Most current climate models use DEM generalization methods that smooth the relief, a key controlling factor in Foehn events modeling. The aim of this study is to compare three original methods of DEM generalization (percentile 90 (P90), envelope maximum (EM), and thalweg and crests (TC)) and to evaluate their impact on simulated precipitation and temperature fields on the eastern part of Patagonia, where warm and dry air masses are expected. Thanks to MAR, a Regional Climate Model, we validate the models at 10 and 5 km resolutions against the Climate Research Unit and perform three sensitivity experiments involving a change in the DEM generalization. Our results show that (i) a finer spatial resolution can slightly improve the temperature biases, however, it cannot resolve the precipitation biases and (ii) a more appropriate use of DEM generalization induces a significant decrease in precipitation for the P90 and EM methods and an increase in mean temperature for all three methods in the study area. This study serves as a recommendation for a better use of DEM generalization in climate models performing in Patagonia, but also regions sharing the same orographic features as the Patagonian relief.
Disciplines :
Earth sciences & physical geography
Author, co-author :
Damseaux, Adrien ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de géographie > Climatologie et Topoclimatologie
Fettweis, Xavier  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de géographie > Climatologie et Topoclimatologie
Lambert, Marius 
Cornet, Yves ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de géographie > Unité de Géomatique - Télédétection et photogrammétrie
Language :
English
Title :
Representation of the rain shadow effect in Patagonia using an orographic‐derived regional climate model
Publication date :
04 September 2019
Journal title :
International Journal of Climatology
ISSN :
0899-8418
eISSN :
1097-0088
Publisher :
John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, United States - New Jersey
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Tags :
CÉCI : Consortium des Équipements de Calcul Intensif
Funders :
CÉCI - Consortium des Équipements de Calcul Intensif [BE]
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since 10 September 2019

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