[NARCCAP-discuss] Does NARCCAP use the A1B SRES scenario?

[Antonia Rosati]

To Whom it may concern:
I apologize for asking what is likely a very basic question but I want 
to make sure I understand what is available on this site (NARCCAP) 
correctly.  Are the only simulations available those forced with the 
A2 SRES scenario?  I am looking for output for the A1B SRES scenario 
and am not sure how to find these on the NARCCAP site.
Thank you for your response to this question.

~water resources engineer
______________________________

Greetings!  I'm glad you asked...much better than being frustrated!

The short answer is:
At this time, we are only running the A2 SRES.


A more descriptive answer is:
The A2 scenario is at the higher end of the SRES emissions scenarios 
(but not the highest). This was preferred because, from an impacts and 
adaptation point of view, if one can adapt to a larger climate change, 
then the smaller climate changes of the lower end scenarios can also 
be adapted to. Instead of testing SRES senarios, we decided to focus 
on the uncertainty across different AOGCMs and RCMs. Hence, we chose 
to use only one emissions scenario, which is used for all simulations. 
We chose the A2 emissions scenario since it was one of the 'marker' 
scenarios developed through the IPCC and was a common one used at the 
time NARCCAP was being planned.


A more extensive explanation of why NARCCAP is currently only running 
the A2 senario...
http://narccap.ucar.edu/about/emissions.html


Cheers!

Toni Rosati
NARCCAP User Community Liaison
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
narccap at ucar.edu