Evaluation of CMIP5 Global Climate Models over the Volta Basin: Precipitation
A selected number of global climate models (GCMs) from the fifth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) were evaluated over the Volta Basin for precipitation. Biases in models were computed by taking the differences between the averages over the period (1950–2004) of the models and the observ...
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| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2018-01-01
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| Series: | Advances in Meteorology |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/4853681 |
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| author | Jacob Agyekum Thompson Annor Benjamin Lamptey Emmannuel Quansah Richard Yao Kuma Agyeman |
| author_facet | Jacob Agyekum Thompson Annor Benjamin Lamptey Emmannuel Quansah Richard Yao Kuma Agyeman |
| author_sort | Jacob Agyekum |
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| description | A selected number of global climate models (GCMs) from the fifth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) were evaluated over the Volta Basin for precipitation. Biases in models were computed by taking the differences between the averages over the period (1950–2004) of the models and the observation, normalized by the average of the observed for the annual and seasonal timescales. The Community Earth System Model, version 1-Biogeochemistry (CESM1-BGC), the Community Climate System Model Version 4 (CCSM4), the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model, Medium Range (MPI-ESM-MR), the Norwegian Earth System Model (NorESM1-M), and the multimodel ensemble mean were able to simulate the observed climatological mean of the annual total precipitation well (average biases of 1.9% to 7.5%) and hence were selected for the seasonal and monthly timescales. Overall, all the models (CESM1-BGC, CCSM4, MPI-ESM-MR, and NorESM1-M) scored relatively low for correlation (<0.5) but simulated the observed temporal variability differently ranging from 1.0 to 3.0 for the seasonal total. For the annual cycle of the monthly total, the CESM1-BGC, the MPI-ESM-MR, and the NorESM1-M were able to simulate the peak of the observed rainy season well in the Soudano-Sahel, the Sahel, and the entire basin, respectively, while all the models had difficulty in simulating the bimodal pattern of the Guinea Coast. The ensemble mean shows high performance compared to the individual models in various timescales. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-33c20bb8996d4a10966d24d57d1d3fdc |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1687-9309 1687-9317 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2018-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
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| series | Advances in Meteorology |
| spelling | doaj-art-33c20bb8996d4a10966d24d57d1d3fdc2025-02-03T05:50:14ZengWileyAdvances in Meteorology1687-93091687-93172018-01-01201810.1155/2018/48536814853681Evaluation of CMIP5 Global Climate Models over the Volta Basin: PrecipitationJacob Agyekum0Thompson Annor1Benjamin Lamptey2Emmannuel Quansah3Richard Yao Kuma Agyeman4Department of Physics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, GhanaDepartment of Physics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, GhanaAfrican Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD), Niamey, NigerDepartment of Physics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, GhanaNumerical Weather Prediction Unit, Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet), Accra, GhanaA selected number of global climate models (GCMs) from the fifth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) were evaluated over the Volta Basin for precipitation. Biases in models were computed by taking the differences between the averages over the period (1950–2004) of the models and the observation, normalized by the average of the observed for the annual and seasonal timescales. The Community Earth System Model, version 1-Biogeochemistry (CESM1-BGC), the Community Climate System Model Version 4 (CCSM4), the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model, Medium Range (MPI-ESM-MR), the Norwegian Earth System Model (NorESM1-M), and the multimodel ensemble mean were able to simulate the observed climatological mean of the annual total precipitation well (average biases of 1.9% to 7.5%) and hence were selected for the seasonal and monthly timescales. Overall, all the models (CESM1-BGC, CCSM4, MPI-ESM-MR, and NorESM1-M) scored relatively low for correlation (<0.5) but simulated the observed temporal variability differently ranging from 1.0 to 3.0 for the seasonal total. For the annual cycle of the monthly total, the CESM1-BGC, the MPI-ESM-MR, and the NorESM1-M were able to simulate the peak of the observed rainy season well in the Soudano-Sahel, the Sahel, and the entire basin, respectively, while all the models had difficulty in simulating the bimodal pattern of the Guinea Coast. The ensemble mean shows high performance compared to the individual models in various timescales.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/4853681 |
| spellingShingle | Jacob Agyekum Thompson Annor Benjamin Lamptey Emmannuel Quansah Richard Yao Kuma Agyeman Evaluation of CMIP5 Global Climate Models over the Volta Basin: Precipitation Advances in Meteorology |
| title | Evaluation of CMIP5 Global Climate Models over the Volta Basin: Precipitation |
| title_full | Evaluation of CMIP5 Global Climate Models over the Volta Basin: Precipitation |
| title_fullStr | Evaluation of CMIP5 Global Climate Models over the Volta Basin: Precipitation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluation of CMIP5 Global Climate Models over the Volta Basin: Precipitation |
| title_short | Evaluation of CMIP5 Global Climate Models over the Volta Basin: Precipitation |
| title_sort | evaluation of cmip5 global climate models over the volta basin precipitation |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/4853681 |
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