An evaluation of MéRA, a high-resolution mesoscale regional reanalysis

Abstract

Met éireann, the Irish Meteorological Service, has generated a very high resolution (2.5-km horizontal grid) regional climate reanalysis for Ireland called the Met éireann Reanalysis (MéRA). MéRA spans the period from 1981 to 2015 and was produced using the shared ALADIN-HIRLAM numerical weather prediction system. This article includes comparisons with the ERA-Interim and Uncertainties in Ensembles of Regional Reanalyses (UERRA) datasets, analysis of data assimilation outputs, precipitation comparisons, and a focus on extremes of wind and rainfall. The comparisons with the reanalysis datasets show that MéRA provides a high-quality reconstruction of recent Irish climate and benefits from the use of a very high resolution grid, in particular in relation to wind and precipitation extremes.