Development of Integrated Land Simulator for Improved Climate Prediction

We have been developing a system called Integrated Land Simulator (ILS), which is capable of resolving the entire Earth at 1km-distance intervals horizontally. One of our purposes is to create leading-edge climate prediction models with very high resolution. In addition, we have come up with boundary conditions --- soil type, vegetation roughness, land use, land change, among others --- at a 1km resolution necessary for running ILS by using the latest satellite data and geographic information system (GIS) and other technologies. Furthermore, we contribute to upgrading the models by adding new parameters of land processes, such as slope drainage and groundwater utilization, in high horizontal resolution. Through these commitments, we will achieve higher climate prediction accuracy and contribute to generating a more detailed impact assessment of climate change based on the needs of our society.

- Tomoko Nitta (The University of Tokyo)
- Dai Yamazaki (The University of Tokyo)
- Yukiko Hirabayashi (The University of Tokyo)

- Nitta, T., K. Yoshimura, A. Abe-Ouchi, Impact of arctic wetlands on the climate system: Model sensitivity simulations with the MIROC5 AGCM and a wetland scheme, J. Hydrometeor., doi:10.1175/JHMD-D-16-0105.1, 2017.