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Mediterranean extreme precipitation: a multi-model assessment

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Abstract

Exploiting the added value of the ensemble of high-resolution model simulations provided by the Med-CORDEX coordinated initiative, an updated assessment of Mediterranean extreme precipitation events as represented in different observational, reanalysis and modelling datasets is presented. A spatiotemporal characterisation of the long-term statistics of extreme precipitation is performed, using a number of different diagnostic indices. Employing a novel approach based on the timing of extreme precipitation events a number of physically consistent subregions are defined. The comparison of different diagnostics over the Mediterranean domain and physically homogeneous sub-domains is presented and discussed, focussing on the relative impact of several model configuration features (resolution, coupling, physical parameterisations) on the performance in reproducing extreme precipitation events. It is found that the agreement between the observed and modelled long-term statistics of extreme precipitation is more sensitive to the model physics, in particular convective parameterisation, than to other model configurations such as resolution and coupling.

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Notes

  1. Most simulations are performed for the period 1979–2011, with the exception of few models as indicated in Table 1.

  2. It has to be noticed, however, that in such regions the density of stations is lower, possibly influencing the reliability of the observational reference dataset. Further discussion of this aspect is presented in Sect. 4.

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Acknowledgments

The present work has been funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research and the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea under the GEMINA and NEXTDATA projects. This work has been partially funded by the Spanish Government and the European Regional Development Fund, through grants CGL2007-66440-C04-02, CGL2010-18013 and CGL2013-47261-R.

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Author notes

  1. Paolo Oddo

    Present address: Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation STO NATO (CMRE), La Spezia, Italy

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), Bologna, Italy

    Leone Cavicchia, Enrico Scoccimarro, Silvio Gualdi, Paola Marson & Antonella Sanna

  2. Ca’ Foscari University, Venice, Italy

    Paola Marson

  3. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Bologna, Italy

    Enrico Scoccimarro, Silvio Gualdi & Paolo Oddo

  4. Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Bodo Ahrens

  5. IPSL/Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique, Ecole Polytechnique, ENS, UPMC, ENPC, CNRS, Palaiseau, France

    Ségolène Berthou, Philippe Drobinski & Laurent Li

  6. Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), Lecce, Italy

    Dario Conte

  7. ENEA Climate Modeling and Impacts, Rome, Italy

    Alessandro Dell’Aquila

  8. Institute of Meteorology, Faculty of Physics, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Vladimir Djurdjevic

  9. Météo France, Toulouse, France

    Clotilde Dubois

  10. Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo, Spain

    Clemente Gallardo

  11. Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy

    Csaba Torma

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  1. Leone Cavicchia
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Correspondence to Leone Cavicchia.

Additional information

This paper is a contribution to the special issue on Med-CORDEX, an international coordinated initiative dedicated to the multi-component regional climate modelling (atmosphere, ocean, land surface, river) of the Mediterranean under the umbrella of HyMeX, CORDEX, and Med-CLIVAR and coordinated by Samuel Somot, Paolo Ruti, Erika Coppola, Gianmaria Sannino, Bodo Ahrens, and Gabriel Jordà.

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Cavicchia, L., Scoccimarro, E., Gualdi, S. et al. Mediterranean extreme precipitation: a multi-model assessment. Clim Dyn 51, 901–913 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-016-3245-x

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