High-Resolution Dynamical Downscaling of ERA-Interim Using the WRF Regional Climate Model for the Area of Poland. Part 1: Model Configuration and Statistical Evaluation for the 1981–2010 Period

In this work, we present the results of high-resolution dynamical downscaling of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, for the area of Poland, with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The model is configured using three nested domains, with spatial resolution of 45 km × 45 km, 15 km × 15 km and 5 km × 5 km. The ERA-Interim database is used for boundary conditions. The results are evaluated by comparison with station measurements for the period 1981–2010. The model is capable of reproducing the main climatological features of the study area. The results are in very close agreement with the measurements, especially for the air temperature. For all four meteorological variables, the model performance captures seasonal and daily cycles. For the air temperature and winter season, the model underestimates the measurements. For summer, the model shows higher values, compared with the measurements. The opposite is the case for relative humidity. There is a strong diurnal pattern in mean error, which changes seasonally. The agreement with the measurements is worse for the seashore and mountain areas, which suggests that the 5 km × 5 km grid might still have an insufficient spatial resolution. There is no statistically significant temporal trend in the model performance. The larger year-to-year changes in the model performance, e.g. for the years 1982 and 2010 for the air temperature should therefore be linked with the natural variability of meteorological conditions.