Numerical simulations of precipitation in the complex terrain of Iceland - Comparison with glaciological and hydrological data
(2007) In Meteorologische Zeitschrift 16(1). p.71-85- Abstract
- Atmospheric flow over Iceland has been simulated for the period September 1987 through June 2003, using the PSU/NCAR MM5 mesoscale model driven by initial and boundary data from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The simulated precipitation is compared with two types of indirect precipitation observations. Firstly, snow accumulation on two large ice caps in SE-Iceland and on two large glaciers in central Iceland. Secondly, model output is used as input to the WaSiM-ETH hydrological model to calculate and compare the runoff with observed runoff from six watersheds in Iceland for the water years 1987-2002. Model precipitation compares favourably with both types of validation data. The seasonal and inter-annual... (More)
- Atmospheric flow over Iceland has been simulated for the period September 1987 through June 2003, using the PSU/NCAR MM5 mesoscale model driven by initial and boundary data from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The simulated precipitation is compared with two types of indirect precipitation observations. Firstly, snow accumulation on two large ice caps in SE-Iceland and on two large glaciers in central Iceland. Secondly, model output is used as input to the WaSiM-ETH hydrological model to calculate and compare the runoff with observed runoff from six watersheds in Iceland for the water years 1987-2002. Model precipitation compares favourably with both types of validation data. The seasonal and inter-annual variability of precipitation is investigated at low as well as high altitudes. The simulations reveal a negative trend in the winter precipitation in W-Iceland, but a positive trend in the ratio of lowland precipitation to mountain precipitation in E-Iceland. There is in general a substantial inter-annual variability in the ratio of lowland precipitation to precipitation in the mountains, especially in E-Iceland, emphasizing the limitation of precipitation observations in the lowlands as a proxy for precipitation in the mountains. In order to assess the impact of orography on the precipitation climate of Iceland, precipitation is simulated with flat Iceland and compared to a simulation with true orography. It is found that the mountains contribute to a total increase of precipitation in Iceland of the order of 40 %. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/691556
- author
- Roegnvaldsson, Olafur ; Jonsdottir, Jona Finndis LU and Olafsson, Haraldur
- organization
- publishing date
- 2007
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Meteorologische Zeitschrift
- volume
- 16
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 71 - 85
- publisher
- E Schweizerbartsche Verlags
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000248132600009
- scopus:33947373031
- ISSN
- 1610-1227
- DOI
- 10.1127/0941-2948/2007/0174
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 5b947164-3f75-4f3d-989f-dda5027db1ac (old id 691556)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 12:26:51
- date last changed
- 2022-03-21 04:27:42
@article{5b947164-3f75-4f3d-989f-dda5027db1ac,
abstract = {{Atmospheric flow over Iceland has been simulated for the period September 1987 through June 2003, using the PSU/NCAR MM5 mesoscale model driven by initial and boundary data from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The simulated precipitation is compared with two types of indirect precipitation observations. Firstly, snow accumulation on two large ice caps in SE-Iceland and on two large glaciers in central Iceland. Secondly, model output is used as input to the WaSiM-ETH hydrological model to calculate and compare the runoff with observed runoff from six watersheds in Iceland for the water years 1987-2002. Model precipitation compares favourably with both types of validation data. The seasonal and inter-annual variability of precipitation is investigated at low as well as high altitudes. The simulations reveal a negative trend in the winter precipitation in W-Iceland, but a positive trend in the ratio of lowland precipitation to mountain precipitation in E-Iceland. There is in general a substantial inter-annual variability in the ratio of lowland precipitation to precipitation in the mountains, especially in E-Iceland, emphasizing the limitation of precipitation observations in the lowlands as a proxy for precipitation in the mountains. In order to assess the impact of orography on the precipitation climate of Iceland, precipitation is simulated with flat Iceland and compared to a simulation with true orography. It is found that the mountains contribute to a total increase of precipitation in Iceland of the order of 40 %.}},
author = {{Roegnvaldsson, Olafur and Jonsdottir, Jona Finndis and Olafsson, Haraldur}},
issn = {{1610-1227}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{71--85}},
publisher = {{E Schweizerbartsche Verlags}},
series = {{Meteorologische Zeitschrift}},
title = {{Numerical simulations of precipitation in the complex terrain of Iceland - Comparison with glaciological and hydrological data}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/0941-2948/2007/0174}},
doi = {{10.1127/0941-2948/2007/0174}},
volume = {{16}},
year = {{2007}},
}