First results of RACMO2.4: A new model version with updated surface and atmospheric processes

In recent years, considerable progress in surface and atmospheric physics parameterizations has been made by the scientific community that could benefit regional climate modelling of polar regions. Therefore, we developed a major update to the Regional Atmospheric Climate Model, referred to as RACMO2.4, that includes several new and updated parameterizations. Most importantly, the surface and atmospheric processes from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Integrated Forecast System (IFS), which are embedded in RACMO, are updated to cycle 47r1. This includes, among other changes, updates in the cloud, aerosol and radiation scheme, a new lake model, and a new multilayer snow module for non-glaciated regions. Furthermore, a new spectral albedo and radiative transfer scheme in snow scheme, which has been introduced and evaluated in a previous, yet inoperative version, is now operational. Here, we shortly introduce the aforementioned changes and present the first results of RACMO2.4 for several domains, particularly of the Greenland ice sheet.