RACMO2: Regional Atmospheric Climate Model Output for Polar Ice Sheets

A regional atmospheric climate model developed since the 1990s by KNMI, the Danish Meteorological Institute, and Utrecht University/IMAU. The polar-modified version, RACMO2, combines the HIRLAM dynamical core with ECMWF ISF physics and has been applied to the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets, as well as higher-resolution studies of areas like Dronning Maud Land and Patagonia. The model uses rotated grids with near-equidistant points, 40 vertical layers in most simulations, and is forced at lateral boundaries by a global model every 6 hours.

Use Cases

• Simulating surface mass balance of ice sheets based on the model's adaptation for glacier surface conditions.
• Studying atmospheric dynamics in polar regions based on the model's rotated grid and hybrid sigma-pressure vertical coordinate system.
• Downscaling global climate projections for regional ice sheet studies based on the model's lateral boundary forcing from a global model.
• Analyzing the impact of changing sea surface temperature and sea ice concentration on polar climate based on the model's boundary conditions.

Strengths

• Model development involved multiple institutions (KNMI, Danish Meteorological Institute, Utrecht University/IMAU) over decades.
• The description specifies the model uses 40 vertical layers in most simulations.
• The model is forced at lateral boundaries by a global model every 6 model hours, providing temporal specificity.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
• Row count and data size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Utrecht University (author Jan Melchior van Wessem), via paperswithcode.

Collection Method

Output from the Regional Atmospheric Climate Model 2 (RACMO2) version 2.3p2, a numerical weather prediction model.

Geography

Polar regions including the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets, with higher-resolution applications for Dronning Maud Land and Patagonia.