Regional climate models are important research tools available to scientists around the world, including in economically developing nations (EDNs). The Earth Systems Physics (ESP) group of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) maintains and distributes a state-of-the-science regional climate model called the ICTP Regional Climate Model version 3 (RegCM3), which is currently being used by a large research community for a diverse range of climate-related studies. The RegCM3 is the central, but not only, tool of the ICTP-maintained Regional Climate Research Network (RegCNET) aimed at creating south–south and north–south scientific interactions on the topic of climate and associated impacts research and modeling. In this paper, RegCNET, RegCM3, and illustrative results from RegCM3 benchmark simulations applied over south Asia, Africa, and South America are presented. It is shown that RegCM3 performs reasonably well over these regions and is therefore useful for climate studies in EDNs.
Earth Systems Physics Group, The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy, and Department of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California
Earth Systems Physics Group, The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy
Earth Systems Physics Group, The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy, and National Climate Center, Beijing, China
National Climate Center, Beijing, China
Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration, Quezon City, Philippines
Department of Air Pollution and Climate Change, Egyptian Meteorological Authority, Cairo, Egypt
Global Change Impact Studies Centre and Pakistan Meteorological Department, Islamabad, Pakistan, and Purdue Climate Change Research Center, and Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, West Lafayette, Indiana
Global Change Impact Studies Centre, and Pakistan Meteorological Department, Islamabad, Pakistan
Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California
Purdue Climate Change Research Centre, and Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, West Lafayette, Indiana
Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Katmandu, Nepal
Groupe Aérosols Pollution Laboratoire de Physique de L'Atmosphére, Université de Cocody, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Center for Atmospheric Physics, Institute of Meteorology, Havana, Cuba
Instituto de Astronomia, Geofisica e Ciencias Atmosfericas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Department of Environmental Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California
