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The Arctic System Reanalysis, Version 2
- Source :
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 99:805-828
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- American Meteorological Society, 2018.
-
Abstract
- The Arctic is a vital component of the global climate, and its rapid environmental evolution is an important element of climate change around the world. To detect and diagnose the changes occurring to the coupled Arctic climate system, a state-of-the-art synthesis for assessment and monitoring is imperative. This paper presents the Arctic System Reanalysis, version 2 (ASRv2), a multiagency, university-led retrospective analysis (reanalysis) of the greater Arctic region using blends of the polar-optimized version of the Weather Research and Forecasting (Polar WRF) Model and WRF three-dimensional variational data assimilated observations for a comprehensive integration of the regional climate of the Arctic for 2000–12. New features in ASRv2 compared to version 1 (ASRv1) include 1) higher-resolution depiction in space (15-km horizontal resolution), 2) updated model physics including subgrid-scale cloud fraction interaction with radiation, and 3) a dual outer-loop routine for more accurate data assimilation. ASRv2 surface and pressure-level products are available at 3-hourly and monthly mean time scales at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Analysis of ASRv2 reveals superior reproduction of near-surface and tropospheric variables. Broadscale analysis of forecast precipitation and site-specific comparisons of downward radiative fluxes demonstrate significant improvement over ASRv1. The high-resolution topography and land surface, including weekly updated vegetation and realistic sea ice fraction, sea ice thickness, and snow-cover depth on sea ice, resolve finescale processes such as topographically forced winds. Thus, ASRv2 permits a reconstruction of the rapid change in the Arctic since the beginning of the twenty-first century–complementing global reanalyses. ASRv2 products will be useful for environmental models, verification of regional processes, or siting of future observation networks.
- Subjects :
- Environmental evolution
Horizontal resolution
Atmospheric Science
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Cloud fraction
Climate change
010502 geochemistry & geophysics
01 natural sciences
The arctic
Arctic
Climate of the Arctic
Climatology
Weather Research and Forecasting Model
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15200477 and 00030007
- Volume :
- 99
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........80e29451d7430f3070a9015aed246f93