Very high-resolution climate simulation over Fiji using a global variable-resolution model

A high-resolution climate model simulation has been performed for the first time for Fiji’s climatology. The simulation involved a numerical experiment for a 10-year period (1975–1984), and was conducted at a horizontal resolution of 8 km in a stretched-grid configuration, which is currently the highest resolution at which a global climate model has been applied for regional climatological simulations. Analysis of model-generated data demonstrates a fairly good skill of the CSIRO Conformal-Cubic Atmospheric Model (C-CAM) in the simulation of the annual cycles of maximum and minimum temperatures and rainfall at selected locations in Fiji. The model has also successfully reproduced the pattern of maximum and minimum surface air temperatures between the western and central divisions of Fiji. Model simulation of spatial and temporal distribution of monthly total rainfall (10-year mean) over the main island of Viti Levu in Fiji shows that it reproduces the observed intraseasonal and interannual variability; the influence of the El Niño phenomena has also been captured well in the model-simulated rainfall.