Knist, Sebastian and Goergen, Klaus and Buonomo, Erasmo and Bøssing Christensen, Ole and Colette, Augustin and Cardoso, Rita M. and Fealy, Rowan and Fernández, Jesus and García-Díez, Markel and Jacob, Daniela and Kartsios, Stergios and Katragkou, Eleni and Keuler, Klaus and Mayer, Stephanie and van Meijgaar, Erik and Nikulin, Grigory and Soares, Pedro M.M. and Sobolowsk, Stefan and Szepszo, Gabriella and Teichmann, Claas and Vautard, Robert and Warrach-Sag, Kirsten and Wulfmeye, Volker and Simmer, Clemens (2016) Land-atmosphere coupling in EURO-CORDEX evaluation experiments. Journal of Geophysical Research Atmosphere, 122. pp. 79-103. ISSN 2169-897X

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Abstract

Interactions between the land surface and the atmosphere play a fundamental role in the weather and climate system. Here we present a comparison of summertime land-atmosphere coupling strength found in a subset of the ERA-Interim-driven European domain Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (EURO-CORDEX) model ensemble (1989–2008). Most of the regional climate models (RCMs) reproduce the overall soil moisture interannual variability, spatial patterns, and annual cycles of surface exchange fluxes for the different European climate zones suggested by the observational Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM) and FLUXNET data sets. However, some RCMs differ substantially from FLUXNET observations for some regions. The coupling strength is quantified by the correlation between the surface sensible and the latent heat flux, and by the correlation between the latent heat flux and 2m temperature. The first correlation is compared to its estimate from the few available long-term European high-quality FLUXNET observations, and the latter to results from gridded GLEAM data. The RCM simulations agree with both observational datasets in the large-scale pattern characterized by strong coupling in southern Europe and weak coupling in northern Europe. However, in the transition zone fromstrong to weak coupling covering large parts of central Europe many of the RCMs tend to overestimate the coupling strength in comparison to both FLUXNET and GLEAM. The RCM ensemble spread is caused primarily by the different land surface models applied, and by the model-specific weather conditions resulting fromdifferent atmospheric parameterizations.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Land-atmosphere; EURO-CORDEX; evaluation; experiments;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Institutes > Irish Climate Analysis and Research Units, ICARUS
Item ID:	8734
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1002/ 2016JD025476.
Depositing User:	Rowan Fealy
Date Deposited:	06 Sep 2017 08:20
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Geophysical Research Atmosphere
Publisher:	American Geophysical Union
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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