The conventional approach to the frequency analysis of extreme rainfall is complicated by non-stationarity resulting from climate change. In this study significant trends in extreme rainfall are detected using statistical trend tests (Mann-Kendall test and t-test) for all over the Korean Peninsula. The violation of the stationarity for 1 hour annual maximum series is detected for large part of the area especially for southwestern and northeastern regions. For stations showing non-stationarity, the non-stationary generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution model with a location parameter in the form of linear function of time makes significant improvement in modeling rainfall extremes when compared to the stationary GEV model. The Bartlett-Lewis rainfall model is used to generate annual maximum series for the purpose of generating the Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) curve. Using 100 sets of 50 year synthetic annual maxima, it is found that the observed annual rainfall maximum series are reasonably represented by the model. The observed data is perturbed by change factors to incorporate the climate change scenario from the WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) regional climate model into IDF estimates. The IDF curves for the future period 2040-2079 show highest estimates for all return periods and rainfall durations. The future IDF estimates show significant difference from the IDF estimates of the historical period (1968-2000). Overall, IDF curves show an increasing tendency over time. A historical and future climate simulation is evaluated over the Colorado River Basin using a 111-year simulation (1969-2079) of the WRF climate change scenario. We find the future projections show statistically significant increases in temperature with larger increases in the northern part of the basin. There are statistically insignificant increases in precipitation, while snowfall shows a statistically significant decrease throughout the period in all but the highest elevations and latitudes. The strongest decrease in snowfall is seen at high elevations in the southern part of the basin and low elevations in the northern part of the basin.

Radiationmanagement (RM), as an option to engineer the climate, is highly controversial and suffers from a number of ethical and regulatory concerns, usually studied in the context of the objective to mitigate the global mean temperature. In this article, we discuss the idea that RM can be differentiated and scaled in several dimensions with potential objectives being to influence a certain climate parameter in a specific region. Some short-lived climate forcers (e.g., tropospheric aerosols) exhibit strong geographical and temporal variability, potentially leading to limited-area climate responses. Marine cloud brightening and thinning or dissolution of cirrus clouds could be operated at a rather local scale. It is therefore conceivable that such schemes could be applied with the objective to influence the climate at a regional scale. From a governance perspective, it is desirable to avoid any substantial climate effects of regional RM outside the target region. This, however, could prove impossible for a sustained, long-term RM. In turn, regional RM during limited time periods could prove more feasible without effects beyond the target area. It may be attractive as it potentially provides the opportunity to target the suppression of some extreme events such as heat waves. Research is needed on the traceability of regional RM, for example, using detection and attribution methods. Incentives and implications of regional RM need to be examined, and new governance options have to be conceived.

The climate of West Africa is characterised by a monsoonal system that brings rainfall onto the subcontinent during an annual rainy season. From the late 60's to the mid-90's, rainfall levels significantly below average were observed, which brought severe socio-economic implications. The causes of the uncharacteristically long drought period, and indeed the mechanisms underpinning West African climate were poorly understood at the time, but have since attracted growing attention from the scientific community. Amongst the factors identified as critical is the interaction between the Earth surface and the atmosphere. To investigate these interactions over West Africa we have adopted an approach based upon regional climate modelling, an internationally recognised discipline enabling the representation of past and future climates, and the study of specific meteorological mechanisms. Using the regional climate model MAR, we have carried out simulations of the West African climate for the years 1986, 1987, and 1988. To improve the accuracy with which the model represents the biosphere, a new dataset describing the local vegetation was incorporated and a new scheme for the representation of roots implemented. A measure of the internal variability inherent to all results produced with this, and other such models, was determined. Subsequently, the influence of soil moisture anomalies on the model behaviour was investigated. The latest version of the model was validated by comparing it to observational data for selected years. Our results have prooven the ability of the improved MAR to simulate the West African climate, its monsoon and its spatial and temporal behaviour and provide strong evidence of its suitability for further investigation of the surface-atmosphere interactions over West Africa.

The climate of West Africa is characterised by a monsoonal system that brings rainfall onto the subcontinent during an annual rainy season. From the late 60's to the mid-90's, rainfall levels significantly below average were observed, which brought severe socio-economic implications. The causes of the uncharacteristically long drought period, and indeed the mechanisms underpinning West African climate were poorly understood at the time, but have since attracted growing attention from the scientific community. Amongst the factors identified as critical is the interaction between the Earth surface and the atmosphere. To investigate these interactions over West Africa we have adopted an approach based upon regional climate modelling, an internationally recognised discipline enabling the representation of past and future climates, and the study of specific meteorological mechanisms. Using the regional climate model MAR, we have carried out simulations of the West African climate for the years 1986, 1987, and 1988. To improve the accuracy with which the model represents the biosphere, a new dataset describing the local vegetation was incorporated and a new scheme for the representation of roots implemented. A measure of the internal variability inherent to all results produced with this, and other such models, was determined. Subsequently, the influence of soil moisture anomalies on the model behaviour was investigated. The latest version of the model was validated by comparing it to observational data for selected years. Our results have prooven the ability of the improved MAR to simulate the West African climate, its monsoon and its spatial and temporal behaviour and provide strong evidence of its suitability for further investigation of the surface-atmosphere interactions over West Africa.

The impacts of biomass burning smoke on local rainfall and the structure of the atmospheric boundary layer have been actively studied in recent years. However, whether the large-scale biomass burning in the later dry season over Amazonia Region could influence the dry-to-wet transition season have not been examined. Previous observations have shown that the substantial increase of rainfall from dry to wet season over Amazonia are actually caused by small changes of the atmospheric thermodynamic structure relative to those over other monsoon regions. Consequently, the onset date of wet season can vary greatly as influenced by external or internal anomalous forcings. Thus, it is possible that the transition of the atmospheric thermodynamic structure and circulation from dry to wet season is also sensitive to the impacts of biomass burning smoke. To test this hypothesis, we have forced RegCM3 model with direct radiative forcing of smoke inferred from MODIS for the transition season (August to November). The comparison with control run helps us to examine the direct and semi-direct influences of smoke on the transition from dry to wet season. Our preliminary results show that the direct and semi-direct forcings of smoke could significantly influence the rainfall and related atmospheric and land surface conditions during the transition. However, these changes are sensitive to the prescribed vertical distribution of the aerosols.

The recent elevated North Atlantic hurricane activity has generated considerable interests in the interaction between tropical cyclones (TCs) and climate change. The possible connection between TCs and the changing climate has been indicated by observational studies based on historical TC records; they indicate emerging trends in TC frequency and intensity in some TC basins, but the detection of trends has been hotly debated due to TC track data issues. Dynamical climate modeling has also been applied to the problem, but brings its own set of limitations owing to limited model resolution and uncertainties. The final goal of this study is to project the future changes of North Atlantic TC behavior with global warming for the next 50 years using the Nested Regional Climate Model (NRCM). Throughout the course of reaching this goal, various uncertainties and limitations in simulating TCs by the NRCM are identified and explored. First we examine the TC tracking algorithm to detect and track simulated TCs from model output. The criteria and thresholds used in the tracking algorithm control the simulated TC climatology, making it difficult to objectively assess the model's ability in simulating TC climatology. Existing tracking algorithms used by previous studies are surveyed and it is found that the criteria and thresholds are very diverse. Sensitivity of varying criteria and thresholds in TC tracking algorithm to simulated TC climatology is very high, especially with the intensity and duration thresholds. It is found that the commonly used criteria may not be strict enough to filter out intense extratropical systems and hybrid systems. We propose that a better distinction between TCs and other low-pressure systems can be achieved by adding the Cyclone Phase technique. Two sets of NRCM simulations are presented in this dissertation: One in the hindcasting mode, and the other with forcing from the Community Climate System Model (CCSM) to project into the future with global warming. Both of these simulations are assessed using the tracking algorithm with cyclone phase technique. The NRCM is run in a hindcasting mode for the global tropics in order to assess its ability to simulate the current observed TC climatology. It is found that the NRCM is capable of capturing the general spatial and temporal distributions of TCs, but tends to overproduce TCs particularly in the Northwest Pacific. The overpredction of TCs is associated with the overall convective tendency in the model added with an outstanding theory of wave energy accumulation leading to TC genesis. On the other hand, TC frequency in the tropical North Atlantic is under predicted due to the lack of moist African Easterly Waves. The importance of high-resolution is shown with the additional simulation with two-way nesting. The NRCM is then forced by the CCSM to project the future changes in North Atlantic TCs. An El Nino-like SST bias in the CCSM induced a high vertical wind shear in tropical North Atlantic, preventing TCs from forming in this region. A simple bias correction method is applied to remove this bias. The model projected an increase both in TC frequency and intensity owing to enhanced TC genesis in the main development region, where the model projects an increased favorability of large-scale environment for TC genesis. However, the model is not capable of explicitly simulating intense (Category 3-5) storms due to the limited model resolution. To extrapolate the prediction to intense storms, we propose a hybrid approach that combines the model results and a statistical modeling using extreme value theory. Specifically, the current observed TC intensity is statistically modeled with the General Pareto distribution, and the simulated intensity changes from the NRCM are applied to the statistical model to project the changes in intense storms. The results suggest that the occurrence of Category 5 storms may be increased by approximately 50% by 2055.

Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Douglas ex Louden) is the most widespread pine in North America and the single most abundant tree species in British Columbia (BC). Its vast distribution, diversity and economic value make it an important species for timber harvest and subsequent reforestation. Climate change raises serious concerns over the adaptability and effective management of BC’s future forests. The majority of lodgepole pine seedlings requested for replanting are produced from seed obtained from wild stands, but the relationship between climate variation and the seed production of natural populations has yet to be assessed. The purpose of this study is to determine if variation in P. contorta seed yield is related to the climate of BC. Historical cone collection data were obtained from archived records of 1948 seedlots in 22 different natural stand seed planning zones (SPZs) of BC. Collections were made between 1963 and 2013 and seed yield (kg fresh seed/hL cone) was determined for each seedlot. First, natural variation in seed production of lodgepole pine was examined in 18 different SPZs. The Nass Skeena Transition (NST) represents a unique intersection between continental and maritime ecosystems and was found to have a significantly higher mean seed yield compared to all other zones, with the exception of Hudson Hope (HH). However, variance in seed yield for NST was found to be an order of magnitude higher than that of other SPZs, indicating that seed production in this region is exceptionally variable. These findings provide a valuable geographic baseline for the reproductive fitness of lodgepole pine, suggesting that climate adaptation and mitigation strategies for some areas of the province may need to be region-specific. In addition, the relationship between climate variation and the seed production of P. contorta in BC was evaluated. The climate of each region was described using dynamically-downscaled Global Circulation Model (GCM) and reanalysis climate output from the Canadian Regional Climate Model (CRCM). Annual, winter, and summer means were explored for each of the climate variables of interest: total precipitation (mm) and surface air temperature (°C). Temporal correlations between the mean annual seed yield anomaly and the anomaly of both climate variables were significant under a variety of climate schemes in a number of SPZs. Significant overall trends in climate variables were also captured using GCM-driven CRCM output. While these two analyses independently highlighted significant relationships between seed yield and climate, their joint implications were unclear. Shifts in the CRCM boundary conditions revealed that the results lacked robustness during the historical period, inhibiting the investigation of future projections. Ambiguous age ranges for each cone collection and temporal restrictions of the seed collection data may be partially responsible for these inconclusive results. Results from the first half of this thesis suggest that, with few exceptions, seed production is relatively stable across SPZs spanning a wide range of climate regimes. Thus, the investigation of the relationship between reproductive fitness and climate may be complicated by the extraordinary adaptability of lodgepole pine and the high genetic variation in natural populations. / Graduate

Dans un contexte de changement climatique, l'intégration des énergies renouvelables aux systèmes électriques est un enjeu majeur des décennies à venir. Les énergies liées au climat (photovoltaïque, éolien et hydro-électricité) peuvent contribuer à une réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre. Cependant, elles sont fortement intermittentes et la production électrique associée peine à répondre à la demande.Cette étude vise à évaluer la faisabilité météorologique du développement d'un système de production électrique basé sur les sources d'énergie liées au climat (CRE - Climate-Related Energy). Nous considérons uniquement leurs variations spatiotemporelles et supposons un équilibre entre production et demande moyennes. Nous avons développé CRE-Mix, une chaîne de modèles permettant de convertir les variables météorologiques en chroniques énergétiques. Cet outil permet l'estimation des fluctuations spatiotemporelles de production et de demande énergétiques résultant de la variabilité hydro-climatique. Pour une sélection de régions en Europe, nous évaluons la facilité d'intégration des CRE en fonctions de leur cohérence temporelle avec la demande. Pour chaque source d'énergie et de multiples mix énergétiques nous estimons successivement (i) le taux de pénétration moyen (PE), qui quantifie la proportion de demande satisfaite sur une longue période et (ii) les caractéristiques des périodes de faible pénétration pour lesquelles le taux journalier de demande satisfaite reste bas pendant plusieurs jours consécutifs. Les résultats montrent que les systèmes basés sur une seule source ont du mal à répondre à la demande et souffrent de longues périodes de faible PE, en raison de leur variabilité temporelle. Cependant, une combinaison d'énergies, l'utilisation de systèmes de stockage ou l'échange d'énergie entre régions, permettent d'augmenter fortement la fiabilité des CRE (PE proche de 100% et rares/courtes périodes de faible pénétration). Cette étude, basée sur 30 ans, a été étendue à l'ensemble de XXème siècle afin d'évaluer les fluctuations basse fréquence des CRE résultant de la variabilité interne du climat. De longues chroniques régionales de production et de demande ont été générées grâce au développement d'une méthode de descente d'échelle statistique basée sur les analogues atmosphériques (SCAMP). Cet outil génère des scénarios météorologiques multivariés physiquement cohérents. Les résultats montrent que les variations basse fréquence des CRE sont influencées par les grandes oscillations océano-climatiques. De plus, on montre que les variations multi-décennales de l'hydro-électricité sont particulièrement importantes avec notamment une différence en PE supérieure à 15% d'une décade à l'autre et des périodes de faible pénétration aux caractéristiques très irrégulières.Enfin, nous évaluons la pertinence de systèmes électriques basés sur les CRE en climat futur. SCAMP permet de produire des scénarios régionaux de variables météorologiques à partir des modèles climatiques issus des simulations CMPI5. Pour les précipitations, les tendances simulées par SCAMP sont en désaccord avec de nombreuses études. L'application de SCAMP en "modèle parfait" semble indiquer que le lien entre les situations atmosphériques de grande échelle et les précipitations totales, mais également convectives et stratiformes, change en climat futur. / In the context of climate change, the integration of renewables in electric power systems is one of the main challenges of the coming decades. Climate-Related-Energy sources (CRE - solar, wind and hydro power) can contribute to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. However, they exhibit large spatio-temporal fluctuations and the associated intermittent electricity generation often leads to an incomplete supply-demand balance. This study aims to evaluate the meteorological feasibility of developing an electric power system that would only rely on CRE sources. We focus on the multi-scale spatio-temporal fluctuations of these renewables by assuming a balance between mean electricity production and mean energy load. We develop and use CRE-mix, a suite of models able to convert meteorological conditions into CRE time series. It gives an assessment the spatio-temporal fluctuations of power production and energy demand, resulting from the multi-scale hydro-climatic variability. For a set of European regions, we assess the ease of integration of CRE sources, regarding their temporal consistency with energy demand. For each CRE source and multiple CRE mixes, we consider in turn (i) the mean penetration rate (PE), which quantifies the proportion of satisfied demand over a long period and (ii) the characteristics of low penetration periods, defined as sequences of days for which the penetration rate is lower than a given threshold. This study proves that single CRE sources have difficulty to meet the energy demand and suffer from long low penetration periods, due to their multi-scale temporal variations. However, using some integrating factors (multi-sources, storage systems, inter-regions electric power transmission), efficiently improves the reliability of CRE-based power systems with PE rates close to 100% and rare low penetration periods.These analyses, based on a 30-yr period, are extended to the entire 20th century in order to assess the low frequency fluctuations of CRE sources resulting from the internal variability of climate. Long regional series of production and demand, were generated thanks to the development of a statistical downscaling method based on atmospheric analogues (SCAMP). It simulates physically-consistent multivariate series of meteorological parameters. The results demonstrate that these fluctuations are related to some large scale oceano-climatic oscillations. Moreover, the multi-decennial variations of hydro power are particularly large: changes in PE rates exceeding 15% from one decade to the other and uneven energy droughts characteristics.Finally, we evaluate the relevance of the CRE sources under future climate conditions. SCAMP is used to produce downscaled projections of meteorological drivers of CRE sources for the 21st century from a selection of CMIP5 climate models. The resulting scenarios for precipitation are not consistent with other studies focusing of the future modifications of this variable in Europe. The application of SCAMP in a perfect-model approach seems to indicate that the large-scale-meteorology/local-precipitation relationship is changing in the course of the 21st century, for all total, convective and stratiform precipitation.

In this project, we analyse the ability of two regional climate models to simulate meteorological conditions on Nordenskiöldbreen, a glacier in Svalbard. To do so, regional climate model output is compared with in situ measurements from an automatic weather station. Detailed information about the weather conditions on Nordenskiöldbreen is important for simulating the glacial mass balance in a changing climate. The parameters analysed were the following: temperature, air pressure, relative humidity, precipitation, cloud cover, wind speed and wind direction. The weather station did not measure all parameters, cloud cover was instead estimated through the incoming longwave radiation and temperature, while precipitation was calculated from snow depth. The results show that the models represent certain parameters better than others. Temperature, air pressure and wind speed and direction are found to be simulated with high precision. Poorest agreement is found for precipitation, which appears to be both difficult to simulate and observe. Relative humidity and cloud cover show average agreement with the station. The conclusion of the project is that the estimation of some of the parameters is satisfactory, while others are lacking. None of the models can be determined to have performed significantly better than the other. / I det här projektet analyserades två regionala klimatmodellers förmåga att simulera meteorologiska förhållanden på Nordenskiöldbreen, en glaciär på Svalbard. Detta gjordes genom jämförelser av data från regionala klimatmodeller mot lokala mätningar från en automatisk väderstation. Detaljerad information om väderförhållandena på Nordenskiöldbreen är viktigt för att kunna simulera glaciärens massbalans i ett föränderligt klimat. Parametrarna som jämfördes var temperatur, lufttryck, relativ luftfuktighet, nederbörd, molntäcke samt vindhastighet och vindriktning. Stationen mätte inte alla parametrar, molntäcket uppskattades istället genom inkommande långvågig strålning och temperatur, medan nederbörd beräknades via snödjup. Resultatet visar att modellerna representerar vissa parametrar bättre än andra. Temperatur, lufttryck, vindhastighet och vindriktning simuleras med hög precision. Parametern med lägst samband är nederbörd, somverkar vara svår både att simulera och observera. Relativ luftfuktighet och molntäcke har ett medelmåttigt samband till stationen. Slutsatsen av projektet är att modellernas uppskattning av några parametrar är tillräckligt bra, medan andra är bristfälliga. Ingen av modellerna kan bedömas ha presterat signifikant bättre än den andra.

Les villes jouent un rôle majeur dans le changement climatique à l'échelle globale au travers des émissions de gaz à effet de serre qu'elles génèrent. Mais elles peuvent aussi influencer le climat aux échelles locale et régionale car elles traduisent une altération des modes d'occupation des sols qui modifie les échanges thermodynamiques entre la surface et l'atmosphère. Les études d'impacts en milieu urbain se concentrent principalement sur les effets du changement climatique sur le climat local des villes (et plus largement, sur un ensemble de dimensions environnementales) selon des approches ne tenant pas compte des rétroactions potentielles. Les hautes résolutions horizontales atteintes aujourd'hui par les modèles de climat régionaux rendent légitime et pertinent d'inclure une modélisation explicite des villes dans ces modèles pour traiter les interactions ville/climat. Le couplage du modèle de climat régional ALADIN à 12 km de résolution avec la plateforme de modélisation des surfaces continentales SURFEX intégrant le modèle de canopée urbaine TEB permet d'évaluer l'impact de l'urbanisation à l'échelle régionale. L'analyse de sensibilité comparant différentes approches de modélisation des zones urbaines montre que les villes modifient significativement la température de l'air proche de la surface. Les plus grandes agglomérations françaises induisent un réchauffement le jour et la nuit, qui s'étend au-delà des limites de la ville et affecte l'environnement à l'échelle régionale. La comparaison des simulations à de longues séries d'observation sur la région parisienne révèle que la modélisation explicite des processus urbains avec TEB reproduit mieux la dynamique journalière de l'îlot de chaleur urbain et son intensité en phase nocturne que l'approche conventionnelle des modèles de climat décrivant les villes comme de la roche. L'activation de TEB dans le modèle ALADIN permet donc de mieux représenter l'impact des villes sur les climat régional. Néanmoins, les études d'impacts du changement climatique sur les villes nécessitent une descente d'échelle complémentaire. Une simulation a été réalisée avec le modèle AROME couplé à SURFEX(TEB) à 2.5 km puis 1.3 km de résolution sur l'agglomération toulousaine pour la période couvrant la campagne expérimentale CAPITOUL (2004-2005). Les bénéfices de la paramétrisation urbaine sont confirmés à ces échelles. Les tests de sensibilité réalisés sur les différentes versions de TEB mettent en lumière la forte sensibilité des performances du modèle à la qualité des simulations atmosphériques AROME et à la précision des données de surface. Pour ces résolutions et avec les bases de données actuelles, les paramétrisations les plus sophistiquées de TEB (échanges turbulents dans la canopée urbaine, énergétique du bâtiment, végétation explicite) n'apportent pas d'amélioration par rapport à la version historique voire dégradent les résultats. Il reste donc des voies d'amélioration à explorer pour la configuration AROME-Climat avec SURFEX(TEB), aussi bien sur la physique et la dynamique du modèle atmosphérique que sur la qualité des bases de données. En parallèle, différentes méthodes de descente d'échelle à très haute résolution sur les villes sont envisagées pour raffiner encore les études d'impacts. / Greenhouse gas emissions generated by cities play a major role in climate change at a global scale. But cities can also influence the climate at the local and regional scales as they reflect an alteration of land-use that modifies the thermodynamic exchanges between the surface and the atmosphere. Impact studies in urban areas focus mainly on the effects of climate change on the local climate of cities (and more broadly on a range of environmental dimensions) using approaches that do not account for the feedback with the atmosphere. The high horizontal resolutions reached by regional climate models make it relevant to include explicit modeling of cities to address city/climate interactions. Coupling the ALADIN regional climate model ALADIN (12 km horizontal resolution) with the SURFEX modeling platform integrating the model of urban canopy TEB allows to evaluate the impact of the urbanization at the regional scale. Sensitivity analyses that compare different urban canopy modeling shows that cities significantly modify the near-surface air temperature. The largest French cities induce a warming day and night, which extends beyond the limits of the city and affects the environment on a regional scale. Comparison of the simulations with long-term time series of observations on the Paris region reveals that the explicit modeling of urban processes with TEB improve the daily dynamics of the urban heat island and its nocturnal intensity compare to the conventional approach of climate models that describes cities as rock. The activation of TEB in the ALADIN model thus makes it possible to represent the impact of cities on the regional climate. Nevertheless, impact studies of climate change on cities require a further downscalling. A simulation was carried out with the AROME model coupled with SURFEX (TEB) at 2.5 km and 1.3 km resolution on the agglomeration of Toulouse for the period covering the CAPITOUL experimental campaign (2004-2005). The benefits of urban parametrization are confirmed. The tests carried out on the different versions of TEB highlight the high sensitivity of the model's performance to the quality of the AROME atmospheric simulations and the accuracy of the surface description. For these resolutions and with the current databases, the most detail parametrization of TEB (turbulent exchanges in the urban canopy, building energy budget, explicit vegetation) do not seem relevant compared to the historical version. New develompents could thus benefits to the AROME-Climat configuration with SURFEX (TEB). In particular, The physics and dynamics of the atmospheric model as well as the accuracy of the databases could be improved. At the same time, various downscalling methods at very high resolution on the cities are envisaged to enhance the spatial resolution needed by the impact studies.