Data · dataset · 2026
Exploring a variable-resolution approach for simulating regional climate in the Rocky Mountain region using the VR-CESM
Listed in National Center for Atmospheric Research
The reliability of climate simulations and projections, particularly in the regions with complex terrains, is greatly limited by the model resolution.
Description
In this study we evaluate the variable-resolution Community Earth System Model (VR-CESM) with a high-resolution (0.125 degrees) refinement over the Rocky Mountain region. The VR-CESM results are compared with observations, as well as CESM simulation at a quasi-uniform 1 degrees resolution (UNIF) and Canadian Regional Climate Model version 5 (CRCM5) simulation at a 0.11 degrees resolution.
We find that VR-CESM is effective at capturing the observed spatial patterns of temperature, precipitation, and snowpack in the Rocky Mountains with the performance comparable to CRCM5, while UNIF is unable to do so. VR-CESM and CRCM5 simulate better the seasonal variations of precipitation than UNIF, although VR-CESM still overestimates winter precipitation whereas CRCM5 and UNIF underestimate it. All simulations distribute more winter precipitation along the windward (west) flanks of mountain ridges with the greatest overestimation in VR-CESM.
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VR-CESM simulates much greater snow water equivalent peaks than CRCM5 and UNIF, although the peaks are still 10-40% less than observations. Moreover, the frequency of heavy precipitation events (daily precipitation >= 25 mm) in VR-CESM and CRCM5 is comparable to observations, whereas the same events in UNIF are an order of magnitude less frequent. In addition, VR-CESM captures the observed occurrence frequency and seasonal variation of rain-on-snow days and performs better than UNIF and CRCM5.
These results demonstrate the VR-CESM's capability in regional climate modeling over the mountainous regions and its promising applications for climate change studies.
Links
Get the data
- Publisher page n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7kd21kb ↗
documentation · download · from data ucar edu
Where it is published
- data.ucar.edu /dataset/exploring-a-variable-resolution-approach-for-simulatin… ↗
National Center for Atmospheric Research dataset page
landing page · from data ucar edu
Catalogue records · 1
- CKAN API data.ucar.edu/api/3/action/package_show?id=4e8a87ec-3b09-4015-93af-84dad1eb5… ↗
metadata API · from data ucar edu
Topics
- From keywords
- Earth & Environmental Science · Ocean & Atmospheric Science
- Inferred from text
- Climate model simulation 65% · Computational modelling and simulation in earth sciences 77% · Simulation 75%
Provenance · 1 source records, 10 field assertions
| Source | Key | Last seen | Raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Center for Atmospheric Research | 4e8a87ec-3b09-4015-93af-84dad1eb553a | 13 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Field | Assertion | Extractor | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| concepts[field].anzsrc:field:370401 | enrichment · data ucar edu | taxonomy-embedding@1.1.0 | title+keywords+description (77%) |
| concepts[field].local:field:earth-environmental | mapping · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:ocean-atmospheric | mapping · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[method].local:method:climate-model | enrichment · data ucar edu | keyword-concept-rules@1.0.0 | title+description (65%) |
| concepts[method].local:method:simulation | enrichment · data ucar edu | keyword-concept-rules@1.0.0 | title+description (75%) |
| created_date | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| description | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | /notes |
| publication_date | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| title | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | /title |
| updated_date | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 |