A regional climate simulation over the Iberian Peninsula for the last millennium

Abstract

In this study we present a regional paleoclimate simulation which covers the last millennium over the Iberian Peninsula (IP) with an unprecedented resolution of 30 km. The simulation was performed with a climate version of the mesoscale model MM5 coupled to the global model ECHO-G. Both experiments were driven by the same reconstructions of several external factors. The high spatial resolution of the regional model allows to simulate realistically many aspects of the climate in the IP when comparing the simulation to an observational data set in a reference period (1961–1990). Although the regional model is strongly driven by the boundary conditions, it is able to develop a different realisation of the past climate, which has a strong impact in those exercises comparing the results of climate simulations versus proxy reconstructions. A preliminary comparison of the simulation results with reconstructions of temperature and precipitation over the IP allows to recognise several aspects where both approaches agree, as well as identify the disagreements and try to point out the possible causes.