A community diagnostics and performance metrics tool for the evaluation of Earth system models (ESMs) has been developed that allows for routine comparison of single or multiple models, either against predecessor versions or against observations. The priority of the effort so far has been to target specific scientific themes focusing on selected essential climate variables (ECVs), a range of known systematic biases common to ESMs, such as coupled tropical climate variability, monsoons, Southern Ocean processes, continental dry biases, and soil hydrology-climate interactions, as well as atmospheric CO2 budgets, tropospheric and stratospheric ozone, and tropospheric aerosols. The tool is being developed in such a way that additional analyses can easily be added. A set of standard namelists for each scientific topic reproduces specific sets of diagnostics or performance metrics that have demonstrated their importance in ESM evaluation in the peer-reviewed literature. The Earth System Model Evaluation Tool (ESMValTool) is a community effort open to both users and developers encouraging open exchange of diagnostic source code and evaluation results from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) ensemble. This will facilitate and improve ESM evaluation beyond the state-of-the-art and aims at supporting such activities within CMIP and at individual modelling centres. Ultimately, we envisage running the ESMValTool alongside the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) as part of a more routine evaluation of CMIP model simulations while utilizing observations available in standard formats (obs4MIPs) or provided by the user.

There are well-known difficulties to run numerical weather prediction (NWP) and climate models at resolutions traditionally referred to as 'grey-zone' (similar to 3-8 km) where deep convection is neither completely resolved by the model dynamics nor completely subgrid. In this study, we describe the performance of an operational NWP model, HARMONIE, in a climate setting (HCLIM), run at two different resolutions (6 and 15 km) for a 10-yr period (1998-2007). This model has a convection scheme particularly designed to operate in the 'grey-zone' regime, which increases the realism and accuracy of the time and spatial evolution of convective processes compared to more traditional parametrisations. HCLIM is evaluated against standard observational data sets over Europe as well as high-resolution, regional, observations. Not only is the regional climate very well represented but also higher order climate statistics and smaller scale spatial characteristics of precipitation are in good agreement with observations. The added value when making climate simulations at similar to 5 km resolution compared to more typical regional climate model resolutions is mainly seen for the very rare, high-intensity precipitation events. HCLIM at 6 km resolution reproduces the frequency and intensity of these events better than at 15 km resolution and is in closer agreement with the high-resolution observations.

Denna rapport dokumenterar klimatmodellsimuleringar på 50 km horisontell upplösning över Europa med Rossby Centres regionala atmosfärsmodell (RCA4) gjorda inom projektet Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) för i) ERAInterim-drivna (ERAINT) simuleringar för att utvärdera förmågan hos RCA4 att simuleraden senaste tidens klimat, ii) historiska simuleringar av de senaste årtiondena med drivning från nio olika globala klimatmodeller (GCM:er) och iii) framtidsscenarierna RCP 4,5 och RCP 8,5 drivna med samma GCM:er. Dessa simuleringar representerar en delmängd av alla CORDEX-simuleringar producerade vid Rossby Centre och en allmän slutsats dragen vid Rossby Centre är att en sådan ensemble inte varit möjlig utan att först etablera den effektiva produktionskedja som beskrivs här. Första delen av rapporten dokumenterar RCA4 och dess förmåga i en simulering där ERAINT skalades ner. RCA4 återskapar till stor del den storskaliga cirkulationen från ERAINT, men några lokala avvikelser förekommer. I allmänhet simuleras säsongscykler för temperatur och nederbörd i överensstämmelse med observationer. Några avvikelser finns, som för mycket nederbörd i norra Europa och för lite i södra. På vintern är det även för mycket nederbörd i östra Europa. Temperaturen är i allmänhet underskattad i norra Europa och i medelhavsområdet på vintern, medan för höga temperaturer ges i sydöstra Europa på vintern och i medelhavsområdet på sommaren. RCA4 presterar i allmänhet bra i simuleringar av den senaste tidens klimat med randvillkor från GCM:er. En stor del av det simulerade klimatet i RCA4 kan tillskrivas den drivande GCM:en, men RCA4 skapar sitt eget klimat inuti modelldomänen och lägger till detaljer på grund av högre upplösning. Alla nio nedskalade GCM:er har gemensamma problem i representationen av den storskaliga cirkulationen på vintern. Denna egenskap förs vidare till RCA4. Avvikelserna i storskalig cirkulation medför avvikelser i temperatur och nederbörd i RCA4. Klimatförändringssignalen som den simuleras av RCA4-ensembler enligt RCP 4,5 och RCP 8,5 är mycket lika tidigare resultat. I både scenario RCP 4,5 och RCP 8,5 beräknas Europa bli varmare i framtiden. På vintern är uppvärmningen störst i norra Europa, och på sommaren i södra Europa. Den högsta dygnsmedeltemperaturen på sommaren ökar på ungefär samma sätt som sommartemperaturen, men något mer i södra Europa. Den lägsta dygnsmedeltemperaturen på vintern i norra Europa är den temperatur som förändras mest. Nederbörden beräknas öka under alla årstider i norra Europa och minska i södra Europa. Den största dygnsnederbörden (och per sjudagarsperiod) beräknas öka i nästan hela Europa och i alla årstider. Samtidigt beräknas den längsta perioden utan nederbörd att bli längre i södra Europa. I allmänhet förutses små förändringar i medelvindhastighet. Det finns emellertid områden med signifikanta förändringar i vind. Att använda ensembler är ett sätt att beskriva osäkerheterna i scenarierna, men det finns andra möjliga ensembler som använder andra modeller och som skulle ge andra resultat. Ändå anses den ensemble som används här vara tillräckligt lik dessa andra ensembler för att vara representativ för den hela mängden GCM:er. Dynamisk nedskalning med RCA4 förändrar klimatförändringssignalen, och spridningen i ensemblen minskar ibland, men ensemblen med nio RCA4 simuleringar med olika GCM:er anses vara representativ för den hela ensemblen. Alla scenarier är överens om mönstret på klimatförändringen, men storleken på förändringen bestäms av valet av scenario. Den relativa betydelsen av valet av scenario ökar med tiden.

This report documents Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) climate model simulations at 50 km horizontal resolution over Europe with the Rossby Centre regional atmospheric model (RCA4) for i) a ERA-Interim-driven (ERAINT) simulation used to evaluate model performance in the recent past climate, ii) historical simulations of the recent decades with forcing from nine different global climate models (GCMs) and iii) future scenarios RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 forced by the same nine different GCMs. Those simulations represent a subset of all CORDEX simulations produced at the Rossby Centre and a general conclusion drawn at the Rossby Centre is that such large ensembles could not have been produced without the establishment of an efficient production chain as outlined here. The first part of this report documents RCA4 and its performance in a perfect boundary simulation where ERAINT was downscaled. RCA4 is to a large extent replicating the large-scale circulation in ERAINT, but some local biases in mean sea level pressure appear. In general the seasonal cycles of temperature and precipitation are simulated in relatively close agreement to observations. Some biases occur, such as too much precipitation in northern Europe and too little in the south. In winter, there is also too much precipitation in eastern Europe. Temperatures are generally biased low in northern Europe and in the Mediterranean region in winter while overestimated temperatures are seen in southeastern Europe in winter and in the Mediterranean area in summer. RCA4 performs generally well when simulating the recent past climate taking boundary conditions from the GCMs. A large part of the RCA4 simulated climate is attributed to the driving GCMs, but RCA4 creates its own climate inside the model domain and adds details due to higher resolution. All nine downscaled GCMs share problems in their representation of the large-scale circulation in winter. This feature is inherited in RCA4. The biases in large-scale circulation induce some biases in temperature and precipitation in RCA4. The climate change signal in the RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 ensembles simulated by RCA4 is very similar to what has been presented previously. Both scenarios RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 project Europe to be warmer in the future. In winter the warming is largest in northern Europe and in summer in southern Europe. The summer maximum daily temperature increases in a way similar to summer temperature, but somewhat more in southern Europe. The winter minimum daily temperature in northern Europe is the temperature that changes the most. Precipitation is projected to increase in all seasons in northern Europe and decrease in southern Europe. The largest amount of rainfall per day (and per seven day period) is projected to increase in almost all of Europe and in all seasons. At the same time the longest period without precipitation is projected to be longer in southern Europe. Small changes in mean wind speed are generally projected. There are, however, regions with significant changes in wind. The ensemble approach is a way to describe the uncertainties in the scenarios, but there are other possible ensembles using other models which would give other results. Still, the ensemble used here is found to be similar enough to these other possible ensembles to be representative of the whole set of GCMs. Dynamical downscaling using RCA4 changes the climate change signal, and the ensemble spread is sometimes reduced, but the ensemble of nine RCA4 simulations, using different GCMs, is considered to be representative of the full ensemble. All scenarios agree on a climate change pattern; the amplitude of the change is determined by the choice of scenario. The relative importance of the chosen scenario increases with time.

The hydrostatic regional climate model RCA, version 3 (RCA3), of the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute was used to dynamically downscale ERA-40 and the ECMWF operational analysis over a 22-yr period. Downscaling was performed at four horizontal resolutions-50, 25, 12.5, and 6.25 km-over an identical European domain. The model-simulated precipitation is evaluated against high-resolution gridded observational precipitation datasets over Switzerland and southern Norway, regions that are characterized by complex orography and distinct climate regimes. RCA3 generally overestimates precipitation over high mountains: during winter and summer over Switzerland and during summer over central-southern Norway. In the summer, this is linked with a substantial contribution of convective precipitation to the total precipitation errors, especially at the coarser resolutions (50 and 25 km). A general improvement in spatial correlation coefficients between simulated and observed precipitation is observed when the horizontal resolution is increased from 50 to 6 km. The 95th percentile spatial correlation coefficients during winter are much higher for southern Norway than for Switzerland, indicating that RCA3 is more successful at reproducing a relatively simple west-to-east precipitation gradient over southern Norway than a much more complex and variable precipitation distribution over Switzerland. The 6-km simulation is not always superior to the other simulations, possibly indicating that the model dynamical and physical configuration at this resolution may not have been optimal. However, a general improvement in simulated precipitation with increasing resolution supports further use and application of high spatial resolutions in RCA3.

To reduce uncertainties and hence to obtain a better estimate of aerosol (direct and indirect) radiative forcing, next generation climate models aim for a tighter coupling between chemistry transport models and regional climate models and a better representation of aerosol-cloud interactions. In this study, this coupling is done by first forcing the Rossby Center regional climate model (RCA4) with ERA-Interim lateral boundaries and sea surface temperature (SST) using the standard cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC) formulation (hereafter, referred to as the 'stand-alone RCA4 version' or 'CTRL' simulation). In the stand-alone RCA4 version, CDNCs are constants distinguishing only between land and ocean surface. The meteorology from this simulation is then used to drive the chemistry transport model, Multiple-scale Atmospheric Transport and Chemistry (MATCH), which is coupled online with the aerosol dynamics model, Sectional Aerosol module for Large Scale Applications (SALSA). CDNC fields obtained from MATCH-SALSA are then fed back into a new RCA4 simulation. In this new simulation (referred to as 'MOD' simulation), all parameters remain the same as in the first run except for the CDNCs provided by MATCH-SALSA. Simulations are carried out with this model setup for the period 2005-2012 over Europe, and the differences in cloud microphysical properties and radiative fluxes as a result of local CDNC changes and possible model responses are analysed. Our study shows substantial improvements in cloud microphysical properties with the input of the MATCH-SALSA derived 3-D CDNCs compared to the stand-alone RCA4 version. This model setup improves the spatial, seasonal and vertical distribution of CDNCs with a higher concentration observed over central Europe during boreal summer (JJA) and over eastern Europe and Russia during winter (DJF). Realistic cloud droplet radii (CD radii) values have been simulated with the maxima reaching 13 mu m, whereas in the stand-alone version the values reached only 5 mu m. A substantial improvement in the distribution of the cloud liquid-water paths (CLWP) was observed when compared to the satellite retrievals from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for the boreal summer months. The median and standard deviation values from the 'MOD' simulation are closer to observations than those obtained using the stand-alone RCA4 version. These changes resulted in a significant decrease in the total annual mean net fluxes at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) by -5 W m(-2) over the domain selected in the study. The TOA net fluxes from the 'MOD' simulation show a better agreement with the retrievals from the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument. The aerosol indirect effects are estimated in the 'MOD' simulation in comparison to the pre-industrial aerosol emissions (1900). Our simulations estimated the domain averaged annual mean total radiative forcing of -0.64 W m(-2) with a larger contribution from the first indirect aerosol effect (-0.57 W m(-2)) than from the second indirect aerosol effect (-0.14 W m(-2)).

Water scarcity is a serious environmental problem in many European regions, and will likely increase in the near future as a consequence of increased abstraction and climate change. Water scarcity exacerbates the effects of multiple stressors, and thus results in decreased water quality. It impacts river ecosystems, threatens the services they provide, and it will force managers and policy-makers to change their current practices. The EU-FP7 project GLOBAQUA aims at identifying the prevalence, interaction and linkages between stressors, and to assess their effects on the chemical and ecological status of freshwater ecosystems in order to improve water management practice and policies. GLOBAQUA assembles a multidisciplinary team of 21 European plus 2 non-European scientific institutions, as well as water authorities and river basin managers. The project includes experts in hydrology, chemistry, biology, geomorphology, modelling, socio-economics, governance science, knowledge brokerage, and policy advocacy. GLOBAQUA studies six river basins (Ebro, Adige, Sava, Evrotas, Anglian and Souss Massa) affected by water scarcity, and aims to answer the following questions: how does water scarcity interact with other existing stressors in the study river basins? How will these interactions change according to the different scenarios of future global change? Which will be the foreseeable consequences for river ecosystems? How will these in turn affect the services the ecosystems provide? How should management and policies be adapted to minimise the ecological, economic and societal consequences? These questions will be approached by combining data-mining, field- and laboratory-based research, and modelling. Here, we outline the general structure of the project and the activities to be conducted within the fourteen work-packages of GLOBAQUA. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

A new high-resolution regional climate change ensemble has been established for Europe within the World Climate Research Program Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (EURO-CORDEX) initiative. The first set of simulations with a horizontal resolution of 12.5 km was completed for the new emission scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 with more simulations expected to follow. The aim of this paper is to present this data set to the different communities active in regional climate modelling, impact assessment and adaptation. The EURO-CORDEX ensemble results have been compared to the SRES A1B simulation results achieved within the ENSEMBLES project. The large-scale patterns of changes in mean temperature and precipitation are similar in all three scenarios, but they differ in regional details, which can partly be related to the higher resolution in EURO-CORDEX. The results strengthen those obtained in ENSEMBLES, but need further investigations. The analysis of impact indices shows that for RCP8.5, there is a substantially larger change projected for temperature-based indices than for RCP4.5. The difference is less pronounced for precipitation-based indices. Two effects of the increased resolution can be regarded as an added value of regional climate simulations. Regional climate model simulations provide higher daily precipitation intensities, which are completely missing in the global climate model simulations, and they provide a significantly different climate change of daily precipitation intensities resulting in a smoother shift from weak to moderate and high intensities.

Using a statistical relationship between simulated sea surface temperature and Atlantic hurricane activity, we estimate the skill of a CMIP5 multi-model ensemble at predicting multi-annual level of Atlantic hurricane activity. The series of yearly-initialized hindcasts show positive skill compared to simpler forecasts such as persistence and climatology as well as non-initialized forecasts and return anomaly correlation coefficients of similar to 0.6 and similar to 0.8 for five and nine year forecasts, respectively. Some skill is shown to remain in the later years and making use of those later years to create a lagged-ensemble yields, for individual models, results that approach that obtained by the multi-model ensemble. Some of the skill is shown to come from persisting rather than predicting the climate shift that occur in 1994-1995. After accounting for that shift, the anomaly correlation coefficient for five-year forecasts is estimated to drop to 0.4, but remains statistically significant up to lead years 3-7. Most of the skill is shown to come from the ability of the forecast systems at capturing change in Atlantic sea surface temperature, although the failure of most systems at reproducing the observed slow down in warming over the tropics in recent years leads to an underestimation of hurricane activity in the later period.

This study examines the diurnal cycle of precipitation over Sweden for the warm season (April to September) both in hourly observational data and in simulations from the Rossby Centre regional climate model (RCA3). A series of parallel long-term simulations of RCA3 with different horizontal resolutions - 50, 25, 12, and 6 km - were analyzed to investigate the sensitivity of the model's horizontal resolution to the simulated diurnal cycle of precipitation. Overall, a clear distinction between an afternoon peak for inland stations and an early morning peak for stations along the Eastern coast is commonly found both in observation and model results. However, the diurnal cycle estimated from the model simulations show too early afternoon peaks with too large amplitude compared to the observation. Increasing horizontal model resolution tends to reduce this bias both in peak timing and amplitude, but this resolution effect seems not to be monotonic; this is clearly seen only when comparing coarser resolution results with the 6 km resolution result. As the resolution increases, the peak timing and amplitude of the diurnal cycle of resolved large-scale precipitation become more similar to the observed cycle of total precipitation while the contribution of subgrid scale convective precipitation to the total precipitation decreases. An increase in resolution also tends to reduce too much precipitation of relatively light intensity over inland compared to the observation, which may also contribute to the more realistic simulation of the afternoon peak in convective precipitation. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.