Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-2022-53
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-2022-53
15 Dec 2022
 | 15 Dec 2022
Status: this preprint is currently under review for the journal ESD.

Groundwater in terrestrial systems modelling: a new climatology of extreme heat events in Europe

Liubov Poshyvailo-Strube, Niklas Wagner, Klaus Goergen, Carina Furusho-Percot, Carl Hartick, and Stefan Kollet

Abstract. Due to climate change, years with positive temperature anomalies are becoming more frequent in Europe, requiring
high-resolution climate data to plan for climate change mitigation and adaptation. However, many regional climate models
(RCMs) simplify the representation of groundwater processes, leading to biases in simulated extreme heat events. Here, we
study the characteristics of summer heat events in a unique dataset from the regional Terrestrial Systems Modeling Platform
(TSMP) simulations, compared to an ensemble of EURO-CORDEX climate change scenario control simulations, for the historical
time period 1976–2005.

Our results show that in TSMP, the impact of groundwater coupling on the frequency of hot summer days depends on the
considered time period and the region, associated with respective evaporative regime. An increasing trend of the frequency
of hot summer days averaged across Europe is the lowest in TSMP compared to the other RCMs considered. Groundwater
coupling has a systematic effect on the duration and intensity of heat events: summer heat events with long duration and high
intensity are less frequent in TSMP compared to the CORDEX ensemble. In particular, extended heat events with a duration
exceeding 6 days, i.e. heat waves, occur on average in Europe about 1.5–8 times less often in TSMP, while single-day heat
events happen slightly more often in TSMP compared to the CORDEX ensemble. The frequency of high-intensity heat waves
in TSMP is up to 12 times lower on average in Europe compared to the CORDEX ensemble. Thus, an explicit groundwater
representation in RCMs may lead to rarer and weaker heat waves in Europe also in climate projections. The findings of this
work indicate an existing discrepancy in the ensemble of EURO-CORDEX climate change scenario control simulations and
emphasize the importance of groundwater representation in RCMs.

Liubov Poshyvailo-Strube et al.

Status: final response (author comments only)

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on esd-2022-53', Anonymous Referee #1, 13 Jan 2023
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Liubov Poshyvailo-Strube, 18 Mar 2023
  • RC2: 'Comment on esd-2022-53', Anonymous Referee #2, 18 Jan 2023
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Liubov Poshyvailo-Strube, 18 Mar 2023

Liubov Poshyvailo-Strube et al.

Liubov Poshyvailo-Strube et al.

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Short summary
We study the groundwater (GW) impact on summer heat events in a new dataset from the coupled regional Terrestrial Systems Modelling Platform (TSMP), with an explicit representation of GW hydrodynamics, compared to an ensemble of EURO-CORDEX climate change scenario control runs. Our results show that GW coupling affects the duration and intensity of summer heat events, leading to fewer long and intense events in TSMP compared to the EURO-CORDEX ensemble.
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