Model Output from the Arctic Region Climate System Model (ARCSyM)

The Arctic Region Climate System Model (ARCSyM) provides output data to study ocean-ice-atmosphere and land-atmosphere interactions at high latitudes, at horizontal resolutions ranging from seven kilometers to 100 kilometers. Model data specifically cover Alaska, the Arctic Basin, and Antarctica.

The ARCSyM model was first developed from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Regional Climate Model (RegCM2) (Giorgi et al 1993). It was adapted for the Arctic by the addition of coupled sea ice and mixed layer ocean models, ice phase moisture physics, and a new longwave radiative transfer scheme. In the arctic version, the original Land Surface Model (LSM) was replaced by the NCAR LSM and new arctic vegetation types were introduced.

The model can be initialized and forced at the lateral boundaries by observational analyses or General Climate Model (GCM) output and develops its own climate within the specified model domain. Lateral boundary conditions include temperature, wind, moisture, sea level pressure and pressure heights.