TITLE:
Modeling Near-Surface Air Temperature and Precipitation Using WRF with 5-km Resolution in the Northern Patagonia Icefield: A Pilot Simulation
AUTHORS:
Claudia Villarroel, Jorge F. Carrasco, Gino Casassa, Mark Falvey
KEYWORDS:
Patagonia Ice Fields; WRF Model; Simulations
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Geosciences,
Vol.4 No.8,
October
28,
2013
ABSTRACT:
The regional Weather and Research Forecast (WRF) Model
was run for the 2000-2010 period over the Northern Patagonia Icefield (NPI)
with an horizontal resolution of 5 km. The regional model was initialized using
the NCEP/NCAR atmospheric Reanalysis database. The simulation results, centered
over the NPI, were validated against the observed data from the local surface
stations in order to evaluate the improvement of the model results due to its
increased horizontal resolution with respect to the lower resolution from
Global Climate Model simulations. Interest in the NPI is due to 1) the large
body of frozen water exposed to the impact of the warming planet, 2) the
scarce availability of observed meteorological and glaciological information in
this large and remote icefield, and 3) the need to validate the model behavior
in simulating the current climate and its variability in complex terrain. The
results will shed light on the degree of confidence in simulating future
climate scenarios in the region and also in similar geographical settings.
Based on this study subsequent model runs will allow to model future climate
changes in Patagonia, which is basic information for estimating glacier
variations to be expected during this century.