High-resolution dynamical downscaling experiment outputs data over Reunion and Mauritius islands in the South-West Indian Ocean
Abstract
The present article describes a dataset encompassing model outputs generated by the Weather Research and Forecast- ing (WRF) regional climate model. A high-resolution (1km) downscaling simulation was performed over two tropical is- lands, Reunion and Mauritius, situated in the South-West Indian Ocean (SWIO), with initial and boundary conditions provided by the ERA5 reanalysis with a global resolution of 0.25 ° × 0.25 °. The simulation used three nested do- mains sequentially configured with spatial resolutions of 9, 3, and 1km, respectively, with a downscaling ratio of 3. The physical configurations of this simulation were de- termined through previous modeling studies and sensitiv- ity tests. The published simulation data currently covers a period of 10 years, starting from 1991 (with the possi- bility to be extended to 30 years). Over 60 output vari- ables were selected for publication with open access, in- cluding those related to the intermittent energy resources (e.g., surface solar radiation and its direct/diffuse compo- nents, wind speed/direction at multiple vertical levels, and precipitation, of interest for the run-off-river hydropower), as well as the widely used climatic/meteorological vari- ables (e.g., temperature, pressure, humidity, etc.) at a tem- poral resolution varying from a day up to 30 minutes. All the data are available through an open-access data server, where an intelligent algorithm is applied to simplify the download process for data users. For the first time, a long- term, high-resolution climate/meteorological dataset cover- ing Reunion and Mauritius has been simulated and pub- lished as open-access data, yielding substantial benefits to studies on climate modeling, weather forecasting, and even those related to climate change in the SWIO region. In particular, this dataset will enable a better understanding of the temporal and spatial characteristics of intermittent climate-related energy resources, consequently facilitating their implementation towards a green and low-carbon future.