Very high-resolution climate simulation over Fiji using a global variable-resolution model

Abstract

A high resolution climate model simulation has been performed for the first time for Fiji's climatology. The simulation involved a numerical experiment for a ten-year period (1975-1984), and was conducted at a horizontal resolution of eight kilometers in a stretched-grid configuration, which is currently the highest resolution at which a global climate model has been applied for regional climatology simulations. Analysis of model-generated data demonstrates a fairly good skill of the annual cycles of maximum and minimum temperatures and rainfall at selected locations in Fiji. The model has also successfully reproduced the pattern of maximum and minimum surface air temperatures between the western and central division of Fiji. Model simulation of spatial and temporal distribution of monthly total rainfall (10 year mean) over the main island of Viti Levu in Fiji shows that it reproduces the observed intraseasonal and interannual variability; the influence of the El Nino phenomena has also been captured well in the model-simulated rainfall.