An assessment of the surface winds slimulated over the seas around the Korean Peninsula by CMIP5 global and CORDEX regional climate models

Abstract

Surface wind over ocean has influences not only on a climate change through air-sea interactions but on a marine ecosystem, or coastal erosion through the changes in wave height and direction. It is necessary to perform an assessment on the climate models that have been widely used for future projections. This study aims to evaluate the surface winds simulated over the seas around Korea by climate models, not only using CMIP5 global model data but using CORDEX-EA regional model data. Compared with the ECMWF-interim reanalysis used as an initial and boundary condition of the regional models, the multi-model ensemble mean (MME) of the CORDEX regional models produced a stronger surface wind over the seas around Korea both in summer and winter with showing a better performance than the MME of the CMIP5 global models. This result suggests that the global climate models need to be improved in simulating the North Pacific High to yield a reliable projection of surface wind over the seas around Korea especially during summer. climate models that have been widely used for future projections. This study aims to evaluate the surface winds simulated over the seas around Korea by climate models, not only using CMIP5 global model data but using CORDEX-EA regional model data. Compared with the ECMWF-interim reanalysis used as an initial and boundary condition of the regional models, the multi-model ensemble mean (MME) of the CORDEX regional models produced a stronger surface wind over the seas around Korea both in summer and winter with showing a better performance than the MME of the CMIP5 global models. This result suggests that the global climate models need to be improved in simulating the North Pacific High to yield a reliable projection of surface wind over the seas around Korea especially during summer.