The benefits of spatial resolution increase in global simulations of the hydrological cycle evaluated for the Rhine and Mississippi basins

Benedict, Imme; van Heerwaarden, Chiel C.; Weerts, Albrecht H.; Hazeleger, Wilco

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-1779-2019

Articles | Volume 23, issue 3

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-1779-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-1779-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 23, issue 3

Research article

|

02 Apr 2019

Research article |

| 02 Apr 2019

The benefits of spatial resolution increase in global simulations of the hydrological cycle evaluated for the Rhine and Mississippi basins

Imme Benedict, Chiel C. van Heerwaarden, Albrecht H. Weerts, and Wilco Hazeleger

Data sets

Datasets used for the study: An evaluation of the importance of spatial resolution in a global climate and hydrological model based on the Rhine and Mississippi basin. TU Delft. Dataset. I. Benedict https://doi.org/10.4121/uuid:b7b988fc-f5c8-4ce1-8e33-47f31d04a99d

README file related to datasets of hydrological simulations of the Rhine and Mississippi basin I. Benedict https://doi.org/10.4121/uuid:c3b6e367-8215-4640-81d2-9f74994e65f4

Short summary

The spatial resolution of global climate models (GCMs) and global hydrological models (GHMs) is increasing. This model study examines the benefits of a very high-resolution GCM and GHM in representing the hydrological cycle in the Rhine and Mississippi basins. We find that a higher-resolution GCM results in an improved precipitation budget, and therefore an improved hydrological cycle for the Rhine. For the Mississippi, no substantial improvements are found with increased resolution.