Abstract
This paper examines the mass balance in calculations with the Regional Atmospheric Modelling System (RAMS). An error is pointed out that concerns the calculation of the surface fluxes on slopes. This error affects all the prognostic variables in RAMS when sloping terrain is involved. Here we explain how the error can be corrected. To study the impact of the error, we compared simulations with the uncorrected and corrected model. The model contains CO2 transport, and online mass balance calculations were performed for this tracer. Without correction, effective surface CO2-fluxes on mountain slopes were found to be enhanced under certain common conditions to several times the parameterized fluxes. Neglecting this error may cause substantial deviations in both forward and inverse model calculations. After the correction a very good closure of the mass balance is obtained. The correction also modifies the meteorological parameters, although the consequences were limited compared to the CO2-fluxes.
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Abbreviations
- RAMS:
-
Regional Atmospheric Modelling System
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Acknowledgments
We thank Reinder J.Ronda for his help with getting started with RAM Sincluding CO2, David Medvigy for kindly providing us with mass balance calculation codes, Robert L.Walko for checking the reported error detection, and Wouter Peters for improvements of the manuscript. This research was executed as part of the CarboEurope Integrated Project, project no. GOCE-CT2003-505572, supported by the European Commission.
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Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
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Meesters, A.G.C.A., Tolk, L.F. & Dolman, A.J. Mass conservation above slopes in the Regional Atmospheric Modelling System (RAMS). Environ Fluid Mech 8, 239–248 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10652-008-9072-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10652-008-9072-9