Identification

Title

The character and causes of elevation-dependent warming in high-resolution simulations of Rocky Mountain climate change

Abstract

The character and causes of elevation-dependent warming (EDW) of surface temperatures are examined in a suite of high-resolution (Delta x <= 12 km) regional climate model (RCM) simulations of climate change over the Rocky Mountains using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model. A clearEDWsignal is found over the region, with warming enhanced in certain elevation bands by as much as 2 degrees C. During some months warming maximizes at middle elevations, whereas during others it increases monotonically with elevation or is nearly independent of elevation. Simulated EDW is primarily caused by the snow albedo feedback (SAF). Warming maximizes in regions of maximum snow loss and albedo reduction. The role of the SAF is confirmed by sensitivity experiments wherein the SAF is artificially suppressed. The elevation dependence of free-tropospheric warming appears to play a secondary role in shaping EDW. No evidence is found for a contribution from elevation-dependent water vapor feedbacks. Sensitivity experiments show that EDWdepends strongly on certain aspects of RCM configuration. Simulations using 4-and 12-km horizontal grid spacings show similarEDWsignals, but substantial differences are found when using a grid spacing of 36 km due to the influence of terrain resolution on snow cover and the SAF. Simulations using the Noah and Noah-MP land surface models (LSMs) exhibit large differences in EDW. These are caused by differences between LSMs in their representations of midelevation snow extent and in their parameterization of subpixel fractional snow cover. These lead to albedo differences that act to modulate the simulated SAF and its effect on EDW.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7mk6gk8

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2018-03-01T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact