Validation of NARCCAP temperature data for some forest sites in the southeast United States

Abstract

Validation of North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP) climate simulations is conducted for selected US Forest Service sites in the southeastern United States. Results focus on qualitative and quantitative comparisons of seasonal and monthly temperature data from NARCCAP simulations to the surface air temperature data sets developed at the University of Delaware. The Regional Climate Model, RCM3, driven by the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Global Climate Model underestimates average surface temperature for some areas of the southeast United States by about 4 °C for the daily average during the winter of the selected period. © 2012 Royal Meteorological Society.