NCAR Nested Regional Climate Model Simulations

NRCM simulations embed the Weather Research and Forecasting model within the Community Climate System Model to resolve regional-scale climate processes. Output includes three-dimensional arrays of humidity, temperature, wind, and geopotential height at three- and six-hourly intervals. Data from NCAR are provided as monthly NetCDF files covering three future periods up to 2055.

Use Cases

• Analyze regional temperature and wind component trends over North America from 1995-2055.
• Validate model fidelity by comparing simulated geopotential height and potential vorticity on isentropic surfaces with observational data.
• Study the influence of regional-scale relative humidity processes on large-scale climate simulations.
• Assess climate variability for local planning using six-hourly surface and near-surface parameter outputs.

Strengths

• Combines two established models (WRF and CCSM) for regional-to-global scale analysis.
• Provides data at high temporal resolution (three- and six-hourly intervals).
• Simulations cover three distinct future periods (1995-2005, 2020-2030, 2045-2055) for trend analysis.

Limitations

• Spatial coverage is limited to a regional domain over the North Atlantic Ocean and USA.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and complete column lists are unknown.
• Data format is exclusively NetCDF, which requires specialized tools for access and analysis.

Provenance

Source

NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research)

Collection Method

Output from the Nested Regional Climate Model (NRCM) simulations.

Time Range

1995-2005, 2020-2030, and 2045-2055

Freshness

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Geography

Regional domain over the North Atlantic Ocean and USA