An important step toward improving radiative transfer codes in general circulation models (GCMs) is to thoroughly evaluate them either by comparison to measurements directly or by comparing them to other data-validated radiation models. The Rapid Radiative Transfer Model (RRTM) shortwave (SW) radiation model accurately reproduces direct beam fluxes from the Line-by-Line Radiative Transfer Model...

Many general circulation models (GCMs) share similar biases in the representation of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) in the Atlantic, even when they are forced with the time series of the observed sea surface temperature (SST). Specifically, they overestimate precipitation in the Southern Hemisphere in boreal spring and in the Caribbean region in boreal summer. The majority of the mod...

[1] Several state‐of‐the‐art general circulation models (GCMs) predict that large volcanic eruptions should result in anomalous dry conditions throughout much of monsoon Asia. Here, we use long and well‐validated proxy reconstructions of Asian droughts and pluvials to detect the influence of volcanic radiative forcing on the hydroclimate of the region since the late Medieval period. Superposed ...

Scaling aspects of river flow routing are studied by comparing two flow routing schemes, one designed for use in coupled general circulation models (GCMs) and operated at large spatial scales (3⁄4350 km), and the other designed for use in typical hydrological applications at small spatial scales (3⁄425 km). The same runoff data are used as input into the two routing schemes, and comparisons are...

An important motivation for AMMA is the major regional scale and multi-decadal West African drought. It started at the end of the 1960’s, and was particularly severe in the seventies and eighties (Figure 1). It is indeed considered as the strongest observed event of rainfall variability at these time and space scales, and the actual mechanisms accounting for this drought are yet to be precisely...

The 4th IPCC report summarises the effects on precipitation for Europe based on global climate models (GCM) simulations as follows: In northern Europe the climate will become moister – especially during winter – and the Mediterranean region will be much drier in the future – especially for the summer months than it is today. Central Europe lies in the transition region between these two regimes...

Lakes, either artificial or natural, are greatly important as a component in their catchments’ hydrology, but also ecosystem service providers. However, due to climate change, they have begun face numerous problems with water quality and quantity. Furthermore, general circulation models (GCMs) show future change reduction rainfall increase temperature. The aim of the current study is present an...

[1] Detection and attribution studies of observed surface temperature changes have served to consolidate our understanding of the climate system and its past and future behaviour. Most recent studies analysing up-to-date observations have relied on general circulation models (GCMs) to provide estimates of the responses to various external forcings. Here we revisit a methodology which instead es...