Inter-comparison of 10-year precipitation simulated by several RCMs for Asia

In phase II of the Regional Climate Model Inter-comparison Project (RMIP) for Asia, the regional 14 climate has been simulated for July 1988 through December 1998 by five regional climate models and one global variable resolution model. Comparison of the 10-year simulated precipitation with the observations was carried out. The results show that most models have the capacity to reproduce the basic spatial pattern of precipitation for Asia, and the main rainbelt can be reproduced by most models, but there are distinctions in the location and the intensity. Most models overestimate the precipitation over most continental regions. Interannual variability of the precipitation can also be basically simulated, while differences exist between various models and the observations. The biases in the stream field are important reasons behind the simulation errors of the Regional Climate Models (RCMs). The cumulus scheme and land surface process have large influences oil the precipitation simulation. Generally, the Grell cumulus scheme produces more precipitation than the Kuo scheme.