Malle et al. (2026) Does higher-resolution climate forcing improve impact model performance?

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Environmental Research Letters
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-10-09
• Authors: Johanna Malle, Christopher Reyer, Yael Amitai, Andrey Lessa Derci Augustynczik, Yaron Be'eri-Shlevin, Elad Ben-Zur, Peter Burek, Tarunsinh Chaudhari, Jinfeng Chang, Alessio Collalti, Daniela Dalmonech, Shouro Dasgupta, Iulii Didovets, Marc Djahangard, Laura Dobor, Louis François, Simon Newland Gosling, Fred Fokko Hattermann, Shaochun Huang, Heike Lischke, Thomas Lorimer, Katarína Merganičová, Francesco Minunno, Mats Nieberg, ELIZABETH J. Z. ROBINSON, Martin Schmid, Mikhail M Smilovic, Ritika Srinet, Elia Vangi, Xue Yang, Rasoul Yousefpour, Isabel Ayala, Daniel Mercado‐Bettín, Dánnell Quesada‐Chacón, Dirk Karger
• DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/aeb279

Research Groups

• Climate System Analysis Group (CSAG)
• Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP) Consortium

Short Summary

This study evaluates the impact of increasing climate forcing resolution on climate-input accuracy and impact-model performance across various sectors, regions, and forcing variables. The results show that finer forcing resolution does not always improve impact modeling, highlighting the importance of considering model performance when selecting resolution.

Objective

• Investigate how changes in climate forcing resolution affect climate-input accuracy and impact-model performance

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global to regional scales (continental to local)
• Temporal Scale: Long-term climate projections (e.g., 20th century to present, future scenarios)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: ISBA, mHM, and other participating impact models in the ISIMIP project
• Data sources: Climate forcing data from reanalysis datasets (e.g., ERA5, JRA55) and satellite observations

Main Results

• Most gains occur when moving from 60 km to 10 km resolution
• Further refinement to 3 km and 1 km yields smaller and less consistent benefits, and in some cases degrades performance
• Improvements are strongest for temperature-sensitive models and in topographically complex regions
• Precipitation-driven models and low-relief regions show weaker and less systematic gains

Contributions

This study provides a systematic evaluation of the impact of climate forcing resolution on climate-input accuracy and impact-model performance, highlighting the importance of considering model performance when selecting resolution. The results challenge the assumption that ever-finer climate forcing necessarily improves impact modeling.

Funding

• ISIMIP project (funded by EU Horizon 2020)
• Climate System Analysis Group (CSAG) research grants from national funding agencies

Citation

@article{Malle2026Does,
  author = {Malle, Johanna and Reyer, Christopher and Amitai, Yael and Augustynczik, Andrey Lessa Derci and Be'eri-Shlevin, Yaron and Ben-Zur, Elad and Burek, Peter and Chaudhari, Tarunsinh and Chang, Jinfeng and Collalti, Alessio and Dalmonech, Daniela and Dasgupta, Shouro and Didovets, Iulii and Djahangard, Marc and Dobor, Laura and François, Louis and Gosling, Simon Newland and Hattermann, Fred Fokko and Huang, Shaochun and Lischke, Heike and Lorimer, Thomas and Merganičová, Katarína and Minunno, Francesco and Nieberg, Mats and ROBINSON, ELIZABETH J. Z. and Schmid, Martin and Smilovic, Mikhail M and Srinet, Ritika and Vangi, Elia and Yang, Xue and Yousefpour, Rasoul and Ayala, Isabel and Mercado‐Bettín, Daniel and Quesada‐Chacón, Dánnell and Karger, Dirk},
  title = {Does higher-resolution climate forcing improve impact model performance?},
  journal = {Environmental Research Letters},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1088/1748-9326/aeb279},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aeb279}
}