Publication Abstracts

Druyan et al. 2008

Druyan, L.M., M. Fulakeza, and P. Lonergan, 2008: The impact of vertical resolution on regional model simulation of the west African summer monsoon. Int. J. Climatol., 28, 1293-1314, doi:10.1002/joc.1636.

The RM3 regional climate model is used to simulate the west African summer monsoon for six June-September seasons using NCEP reanalysis data for lateral boundary forcing. The study compares the performance of the previously published 16-level version with a newly tested 28-level version, both running on a horizontal grid with 0.5° spacing, in order to determine what improvements in simulations are achieved by increased vertical resolution. Comparisons between the performances include diagnostics of seasonal mean precipitation rates and circulation, vertical profiles of cumulus heating rates, frequencies of shallow and deep convection and diagnostics related to transient African easterly waves (AEWs). The characteristics of a composite AEW simulated at both vertical resolutions are presented. Results show that the most significant impact of increasing the vertical resolution is stronger circulation, stronger vertical wind shear and higher amplitude AEWs. The simulations with higher vertical resolution also achieve higher peaks of cumulus latent heating rates. Spatial-temporal correlations between simulated daily 700 mb meridional winds versus corresponding NCEP reanalysis data and simulated daily precipitation versus estimates from the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) archive were equally high at both vertical resolutions.

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BibTeX Citation

@article{dr09200l,
  author={Druyan, L. M. and Fulakeza, M. and Lonergan, P.},
  title={The impact of vertical resolution on regional model simulation of the west African summer monsoon},
  year={2008},
  journal={International Journal of Climatology},
  volume={28},
  pages={1293--1314},
  doi={10.1002/joc.1636},
}

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RIS Citation

TY  - JOUR
ID  - dr09200l
AU  - Druyan, L. M.
AU  - Fulakeza, M.
AU  - Lonergan, P.
PY  - 2008
TI  - The impact of vertical resolution on regional model simulation of the west African summer monsoon
JA  - Int. J. Climatol.
JO  - International Journal of Climatology
VL  - 28
SP  - 1293
EP  - 1314
DO  - 10.1002/joc.1636
ER  -

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