4KM Difference: Average Summer Temperature for Jul-Sep (2015-2060) from GENMOM-driven RegCM3 climate model (Western US)

This dataset depicts the Difference for Average Summer Temperature for Jul-Sep for 2015-2030 and 2045-2060 compared to 1968-1999 for GENMOM.

These data have been generated using a regional climate model called RegCM3 using boundary conditions from observations or general circulation models for historical conditions, and from GCM projections for future conditions.

Regional climate model description: RegCM3 is the third generation of the Regional Climate Model originally developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Details on current model components and applications of the model can be found in numerous publications (e.g., Giorgi et al, 2004a,b, Pal et al, 2007), the ICTP RegCNET web site (http://users.ictp.it/RegCNET/model.html), and the ICTP RegCM publications web site (http://users.ictp.it/~pubregcm/RegCM3/pubs.htm ). The Western North America domain has a horizontal grid spacing of 15 km and 18 vertical levels.

RegCM3 requires time-dependent lateral (wind, temperature, and humidity) and surface [surface pressure and sea surface temperature (SST)] boundary conditions that are updated every 6 hours of simulation. Lateral boundary conditions are derived from General Circulation Model (GCM) output or observations (e.g. NCEP).

Additional information: http://regclim.coas.oregonstate.edu/RCCV/RCCV_States_advanced.html for data visualization and http://regclim.coas.oregonstate.edu/ for detailed documentation.

These files were created by calculating differences (anomalies) from the mean 1968-99 climate according to the given model, and then adding those anomalies to the mean PRISM climate for 1968-1999

GENMOM is a recently developed GCM that includes components that have been applied extensively to climate research. The model is relatively low resolution (T31, ~3.75o x 3.75o) by design, a compromise that allows long simulations in reasonable time so that the model can be applied to paleoclimate experiments that commonly are run for multiple decades and centuries. GENMOM simulations of future climate were produced under the A2 emission scenario as part of a larger data-model comparison effort to test the ability of GCMs and RCMs to simulate North American climate and climatic variability in response to changes in global boundary conditions (e.g, insolation, atmospheric composition, continental ice sheets, sea level and paleogeography). Details and an evaluation of the model to simulate present-day climatology are given in Alder et al (2011).