Sensitivity study of the regional climate model RegCM4 to different convective schemes over West Africa

Koné, Brahima; Diedhiou, Arona; Touré, N'datchoh Evelyne; Sylla, Mouhamadou Bamba; Giorgi, Filippo; Anquetin, Sandrine; Bamba, Adama; Diawara, Adama; Kobea, Arsene Toka

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-9-1261-2018

Articles | Volume 9, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-9-1261-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-9-1261-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 9, issue 4

Research article

|

09 Nov 2018

Research article |

| 09 Nov 2018

Sensitivity study of the regional climate model RegCM4 to different convective schemes over West Africa

Brahima Koné, Arona Diedhiou, N'datchoh Evelyne Touré, Mouhamadou Bamba Sylla, Filippo Giorgi, Sandrine Anquetin, Adama Bamba, Adama Diawara, and Arsene Toka Kobea

Model code and software

RegCM4: Model description and preliminary tests over multiple CORDEX domains Giorgi, F & Coppola, Erika & Solmon, F & Mariotti, Laura & Sylla, Mouhamadou & Bi, Xunqiang & Elguindi, N & Diro, G & Nair, Vijayakumar S & Giuliani, Graziano & Turuncoglu, Ufuk & Cozzini, S & Güttler, Ivan & A. O’Brien, T & Tawfik, A & Shalaby, A & Zakey, Sahar & Steiner, Allison & Stordal, Frode & Branković, Čedo. (2011). https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01018.577X

Short summary

Simulations of regional climate are very sensitive to physical parameterization schemes, particularly over the tropics where convection plays a major role in monsoon dynamics. The latest version of RegCM4 was used to assess the performance and sensitivity of the simulated West African climate system to different convection schemes. The configuration of RegCM4 with CLM4.5 as a land surface model and the Emanuel convective scheme is recommended for the study of the West African climate.