Tuesday, 15 May 2001: 11:00 AM
Realistic climate simulations require an understanding of the forcing
mechanisms and scales required. In the Arctic, observational studies
indicate both the prominence of a decadal time scale and the importance
of surface heterogeneity at very small spatial scales. Simultaneously,
these climate features place a substantial burden on modeling dynamics.
Here, we assess the performance of two regional model configurations at
high latitudes via the examination of atmospheric circulation variables.
The first is a standard eulerian configuration that is currently implemented
in a coupled atmosphere-ocean-sea ice climate model useful for high latitude
simulations known as ARCSyM. The second is a semi-lagrangian adaptation of
the model for kinematic and transport variables. Comparison of the two
methods centers on the depictions of atmospheric circulation in comparison
to observations and the resulting horizontal fluxes of mass and moisture
over the Arctic domain. This study offers an appraisal of semi-lagrangian
dynamics in comparison to current eulerian methods in high latitude regional
climate simulations.
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