Verification of the Performance of the Pseudo-Global-Warming Method for Future Climate Changes during June in East Asia

Abstract

The performance of the pseudo-global-warming downscaling (PGWDS) method is tested by comparison with the assumed true climate (ATC), which is a downscaling using a general circulation model (GCM) output data directly. The PGWDS is a simple way to downscale for a future climate using current weather data of a GCM added by the long-term mean difference between the present and the future climate projected by a GCM. The verification focuses on the East Asia during the rainy season of June. A significant change in the 30-year averaged monthly precipitation is found around the rain band in the future in both downscaling methods. Between the experiments of the PGWDS and the ATC, no significant differences in temperature and precipitation can be seen except for limited small areas. The findings indicate that the PGWDS has a highly potential to the reliable downscaling of the future climate. In smaller downscaling domains, however, the differences in precipitation increase remarkably near the upstream side of the lateral boundaries. The choice of the downscaling area is a critical issue for accuracy.