Impact of Horizontal Resolution on Precipitation Simulation over South Korea with Multi Regional Climate Models

Abstract

In this study, global climate change scenario by Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model version 2-Atmosphere and Ocean (HadGEM2-AO) is dynamically downscaled using four regional climate models (RCMs). All RCMs with 12.5-km and 50-km resolution are integrated for continuous 27 years (1979-2005). In general, RCMs with higher horizontal resolution more reasonably capture the spatial distribution of precipitation over South Korea compared to those with lower resolution. In particular, heavy precipitation regions related to complex mountain ranges are well simulated due to detailed topography in RCMs with higher resolution. Difference between RCMs with dissimilar resolutions is relatively robust in summer compared to other seasons. This could be associated with that higher resolution and detailed topography lead to more realistic simulation of heavy summer precipitation related to mesoscale phenomena.