DOWNSCALING OF ERA40 FOR THE WIND FIELD IN A COMPLEX TERRAIN

This study deals with the optimal strategy for setting up the ALADIN model for the purpose of dynamic downscaling of ERA40 over the Alpine region. The mesoscale model wind field is compared with MAP-SOP reanalysis data and with wind observations at eleven Slovenian stations. As expected, there is an improvement in the conventional statistics at a 10-km grid as compared to the 40-km analyses. However, the differences between the mesoscale model scores at various domains can be greater than the difference between the MAP-SOP reanalyses and a particular mesoscale simulation.