Regional dynamical downscaling with CCLM over East Asia

Inspired by the framework of the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX), the hindcast (1971-2000) and projection (2021-2050) simulations based on a resolution of over the East Asia domain are performed with the regional climate model COSMO-CLM (CCLM). The simulations are driven by ERA-40 reanalysis data and output of the global climate model ECHAM5. This is the first time that the CCLM is adapted and evaluated for the East Asia Monsoon region; the setup is considered a starting point for further improvements in this region by the CCLM community. The evaluation results show that the CCLM is able to reasonably capture the climate features in this region, especially the monsoon dynamics on small scales. However, total precipitation in the northern part of the domain, over the Tibetan Plateau, and over east Indonesia has a pronounced wet bias. The projected climate change under the A1B scenario indicates an overall annual surface temperature increase of 1-2 K, but no significant precipitation changes.