The first Met Office Unified Model/JULES Regional Atmosphere and Land configuration, RAL1

Abstract

Abstract. In this paper we define the first "Regional Atmosphere and Land" (RAL) science configuration for kilometre scale modelling using the UM and JULES. "RAL1" defines the science configuration of the dynamics and physics schemes of the atmosphere and land. This configuration will provide a model baseline for any future weather or climate model developments to be described against and it is the intention that from this point forward significant changes to the system will be documented in literature. This is reproducing the process used for global configurations of the UM which was first documented as a science configuration in 2011. While it is our goal to have a single defined configuration of the model that performs effectively in all regions, this has not yet been possible. Currently we define two sub-releases, one for mid-latitudes (RAL1-M) and one for tropical regions (RAL1-T). The differences between RAL1-M and RAL1-T are documented and where appropriate, we define how the model configuration relates to the corresponding configuration of the global forecasting model.