Ashfaq et al. (2025) CMIP6-based Dynamically Downscaled Hydroclimate Projection over the Conterminous US

Identification

• Journal: Open MIND
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-10
• Authors: Ashfaq, Moetasim, Rastogi, Deeksha, Kao, Shih-Chieh
• DOI: 10.13139/olcf/3000752

Research Groups

• Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)

Short Summary

This study presents a dataset of dynamically downscaled hydro-climate projections for the conterminous United States (CONUS), generated by downscaling multiple CMIP6 Global Climate Models using the Regional Climate Model version 4 (RegCM4). The dataset covers baseline (1980-2019) and near-future (2020-2059) periods under the high-end SSP585 emission scenario.

Objective

• To provide a suite of dynamically downscaled hydro-climate projections over the CONUS to support the SECURE Water Act Section 9505 Assessment for the US Department of Energy (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO).

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Conterminous United States (CONUS)
• Temporal Scale: Baseline (1980-2019) and near-future (2020-2059) periods

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Coupled Models Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) Global Climate Models (GCMs), Regional Climate Model version 4 (RegCM4)
• Data sources: Outputs from multiple selected CMIP6 GCMs, dynamically downscaled to produce hydro-climate projections.

Main Results

• A comprehensive dataset of dynamically downscaled hydro-climate projections for the CONUS was generated.
• The dataset covers a 40-year baseline period (1980-2019) and a 40-year near-future period (2020-2059).
• Projections are based on multiple CMIP6 GCMs and downscaled using RegCM4 under the high-end SSP585 emission scenario.

Contributions

• Provides a unique, high-resolution, dynamically downscaled hydro-climate projection dataset specifically tailored to support the SECURE Water Act Section 9505 Assessment for the US DOE Water Power Technologies Office.
• Offers a valuable resource for regional climate impact studies and water resource management over the CONUS under a high-end emission scenario.

Funding

• DOE Contract Number AC05-00OR22725
• Project Identifier CLI138
• Sponsoring Organization: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office, Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO)
• Advanced Scientific Computing Research programs in the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy

Citation

@article{Ashfaq2025CMIP6based,
  author = {Ashfaq, Moetasim and Rastogi, Deeksha and Kao, Shih-Chieh},
  title = {CMIP6-based Dynamically Downscaled Hydroclimate Projection over the Conterminous US},
  journal = {Open MIND},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.13139/olcf/3000752},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.13139/olcf/3000752}
}