Open AccessStudies of the Antarctic climate with a stretched‐grid general circulation model
Author(s) -
Krinner Gerhard,
Genthon Christophe,
Li ZhaoXin,
Le Van Phu
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/96jd03356
Subject(s) - katabatic wind , climatology , general circulation model , gcm transcription factors , climate model , environmental science , atmospheric circulation , snow , atmospheric sciences , grid , boundary layer , meteorology , geology , climate change , geography , geodesy , physics , oceanography , thermodynamics
A stretched‐grid general circulation model (GCM), derived from the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD) GCM is used for a multiyear high‐resolution simulation of the Antarctic climate. The resolution in the Antarctic region reaches 100 km. In order to correctly represent the polar climate, it is necessary to implement several modifications in the model physics. These modifications mostly concern the parameterizations of the atmospheric boundary layer. The simulated Antarctic climate is significantly better in the stretched‐grid simulation than in the regular‐grid control run. The katabatic wind regime is well captured, although the winds may be somewhat too weak. The annual snow accumulation is generally close to the observed values, although local discrepancies between the simulated annual accumulation and observations remain. The simulated continental mean annual accumulation is 16.2 cm y −1 . Features like the surface temperature and the temperature inversion over large parts of the continent are correctly represented. The model correctly simulates the atmospheric dynamics of the rest of the globe.