Effects of modified soil water‐heat physics on RegCM4 simulations of climate over the Tibetan Plateau

To optimize the description of land surface processes and improve climate simulations over the Tibetan Plateau (TP), a modified soil water‐heat parameterization scheme (SWHPS) is implemented into the Community Land Model 3.5 (CLM3.5), which is coupled to the regional climate model 4 (RegCM4). This scheme includes Johansen's soil thermal conductivity scheme together with Niu's groundwater module. Two groups of climate simulations are then performed using the original RegCM4 and revised RegCM4 to analyze the effects of the revised SWHPS on regional climate simulations. The effect of the revised RegCM4 on simulated air temperature is relatively small (with mean biases changing by less than 0.1°C over the TP). There are overall improvements in the simulation of winter and summer air temperature but increased errors in the eastern TP. It has a significant effect on simulated precipitation. There is also a clear improvement in simulated annual and winter precipitation, particularly over the northern TP, including the Qilian Mountains and the source region of the Yellow River. There are, however, increased errors in precipitation simulation in parts of the southern TP. The precipitation difference between the two models is caused mainly by their convective precipitation difference, particularly in summer. Overall, the implementation of the new SWHPS into the RegCM4 has a significant effect not only on land surface variables but also on the overlying atmosphere through various physical interactions. Key Points We implement modified SWHPS into the regional climate model RegCM4 The modified SWHPS improves the Tibetan Plateau climate simulations The mechanisms of SWHPS‐induced changes in regional climate are elucidated