Comparison of observed and simulated climatologies over High Mountain Asia glaciers : central Himalaya versus Pamir regions

Supervisor and Institute : María Santolaria-Otín, Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement

Educational background : Ongoing M1 in Climate Sciences, Hydrology, or equivalent.

Key words : regional modeling - model evaluation - High Mountain Asia

Durée du stage : 8-12 weeks flexible from 01/04/2025 to 30/06/2025

Challenge : Climate change in High Mountain Asia (HMA) is largely uncertain because the lack of local observations does not allow a proper estimation of long-term trends. The complex topography induces marked heterogeneities of atmospheric variables in an area exposed to the influence of both the Asian monsoons and the Western disturbances, two circulation patterns that show considerable variability from daily to decadal timescales.Thus, simulating climate variability in HMA is a significant challenge. Current Earth System Models Models and their derived atmospheric and surface reanalyses exhibit strong biases over HMA (Lalande et al., 2021), primarily due to their coarse resolution and rudimentary snow physics, which are still inadequate for representing the complexities of mountainous terrain. To address this limitation, an ensemble of high-resolution regional simulations over HMA covering the last decades are currently produced using the regional climate model MAR (Gallée and Schayes, 1994) developed for cryospheric environments.

Objective : The proposed candidate will focus on evaluating this ensemble of regional simulations with historical station records, satellite observations (snow cover area), and in-situ measurements (e.g. glacier surface mass balance), following a methodology already applied in the Alps (Beaumet et al., 2021). Particular attention will be given to key regions such as the Pamir and Nepal, using the unique measurements from the GLACIOCLIM network on the Fedchenko and Mera glaciers. This project will mainly focus on air temperature and precipitation as well on albedo, snow area extent, accumulation and melting.

Desired skills : Knowledge of climate science and/or numerical modeling, experience with handling NetCDF files is preferable, proficiency in programming and data analysis/processing, preferably using Python.

How to apply : send an email to maria.santolaria-otin univ-grenoble-alpes.fr

*Lalande, M., Ménégoz, M., Krinner, G., Naegeli, K., & Wunderle, S. (2021). Climate change in the High Mountain Asia in CMIP6. Earth system dynamics, 12(4), 1061-1098.
*Gallée, H., & Schayes, G. (1994). Development of a three-dimensional meso-γ primitive equation model : katabatic winds simulation in the area of Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica. Monthly Weather Review, 122(4), 671-685.
*Beaumet, J., Ménégoz, M., Morin, S., Gallée, H., Fettweis, X., Six, D., ... & Anquetin, S. (2021). Twentieth century temperature and snow cover changes in the French Alps. Regional Environmental Change, 21(4), 114.