A range of international workshops, a new citizen science app and some significant research has made the past four months a busy time for the Extreme Rainfall research program.
This PhD will use sophisticated alternatives for removing systematic biases in the lateral boundary conditions of such experiments, with the aim of assessing the extent of change that results in the resulting extreme storm. Outcomes here can help define how we design Civil Engineering infrastructure in warming climates.
In a major achievement, a version of the Australian community land model is now running in the ACCESS modelling system. This version includes the science advances led by Mark Decker around hydrology and soil evaporation, and the science advances led by Martin de Kauwe and Jatin Kala. It also includes major bug fixes identified by collaborators in the UK, and by colleagues in CSIRO. For the first time, we have a version of the Australian community land model coupled with an up to date version of the UK Meteorological Office’s atmosphere model.
At this early stage in the research program, we have already seen significant progress on understanding how well temperature extremes can be simulated with CABLE coupled to the ACCESS system. Coupling has been improved and we have identified possible causes for the tendency for the model temperature to overstate extremes. This model focus will continue to be a priority in the early part of 2018. The team has also identified specific continental heatwaves for initial investigation.