Sensitivity of bias adjustment methods to low-frequency internal climate variability over the reference period: an ideal model study

• Published in: Environmental Research: Climate
• Main Authors: Bonnet, Rémy, Boucher, Olivier, Vrac, Mathieu, Jin, Xia
• Other Authors: Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), Extrèmes : Statistiques, Impacts et Régionalisation (ESTIMR), Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2022
• Subjects: bias adjustment; Internal climate variability; climate change; climate projection; impact studies; [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03799293; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03799293/document; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03799293/file/Bonnet_2022_Environ._Res.%20_Climate_1_011001.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5295/ac6adc

International audience Climate simulations often need to be adjusted before carrying out impact studies at a regional scale. Technically, bias adjustment methods are generally calibrated over the last few decades, in order to benefit from a more comprehensive and accurate observational network. At these timescales, however, the climate state may be influenced by the low-frequency internal climate variability. There is therefore a risk of introducing a bias to the climate projections by bias-adjusting simulations with low-frequency variability in a different phase to that of the observations. In this study, we developed a new pseudo-reality framework using an ensemble of simulations from the IPSL-CM6A-LR climate model in order to assess the impact of the low-frequency internal climate variability of the North Atlantic sea surface temperatures on bias-adjusted projections of mean and extreme surface temperature over Europe. We show that using simulations in a similar phase of the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability reduces the pseudo-biases in temperature projections. Therefore, for models and regions where low frequency internal variability matters, it is recommended to sample relevant climate simulations to be bias adjusted in a model ensemble or alternatively to use a very long reference period when possible.