---
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caption: 'CMIP5 global climate models typically operate at coarser horizontal spatial scales on the order of 30 to 200 miles (50 to 300 km), while regional climate models have much finer resolutions, on the order of 6 to 30 miles (10 to 50 km). This figure compares annual average precipitation (in millimeters) for the historical period 1979–2008 using (a) a resolution of 250 km or 150 miles with (b) a resolution of 15 miles or 25 km to illustrate the importance of spatial scale in resolving key topographical features, particularly along the coasts and in mountainous areas. In this case, both simulations are by the GFDL HIRAM, an experimental high-resolution model.   (Figure source: adapted from Dixon et al. 2016<tbib>dedfd6d8-a9f8-41c8-92a7-7426e7e014af</tbib> ).'
chapter:
  doi: 10.7930/J0WH2N54
  identifier: projections
  number: 4
  report_identifier: climate-science-special-report
  sort_key: 6
  title: 'Climate Models, Scenarios, and Projections'
  url: https://science2017.globalchange.gov/chapter/4/
chapter_identifier: projections
cited_by: []
contributors:
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    id: 27798
    organization:
      country_code: US
      identifier: texas-tech-university
      international: ~
      name: Texas Tech University
      organization_type_identifier: academic
      url: http://www.ttu.edu
    organization_uri: /organization/texas-tech-university
    person:
      first_name: Anne Marie K.
      id: 8247
      last_name: Stoner
      middle_name: ~
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      url: ~
    person_id: 8247
    person_uri: /person/8247
    role_type_identifier: point_of_contact
    uri: /contributor/27798
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    id: 27791
    organization:
      country_code: US
      identifier: texas-tech-university
      international: ~
      name: Texas Tech University
      organization_type_identifier: academic
      url: http://www.ttu.edu
    organization_uri: /organization/texas-tech-university
    person:
      first_name: Katharine
      id: 1024
      last_name: Hayhoe
      middle_name: ~
      orcid: 0000-0003-3625-1402
      url: http://www.katharinehayhoe.com/
    person_id: 1024
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    uri: /contributor/27791
  - href: https://data.globalchange.gov/contributor/27799.yaml
    id: 27799
    organization:
      country_code: US
      identifier: geophysical-fluid-dynamics-laboratory
      international: ~
      name: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
      organization_type_identifier: federal
      url: http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/
    organization_uri: /organization/geophysical-fluid-dynamics-laboratory
    person:
      first_name: Keith W.
      id: 8369
      last_name: Dixon
      middle_name: ~
      orcid: 0000-0003-3044-326X
      url: http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/keith-dixon-homepage
    person_id: 8369
    person_uri: /person/8369
    role_type_identifier: point_of_contact
    uri: /contributor/27799
create_dt: 2016-10-14T16:41:34
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href: https://data.globalchange.gov/report/climate-science-special-report/chapter/projections/figure/model-spatial-scale-comparison.yaml
identifier: model-spatial-scale-comparison
images:
  - attributes: ~
    create_dt: 2016-11-18T19:05:30
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    submission_dt: 2017-10-24T12:38:59
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    title: 250km Resolution
    url: ~
    usage_limits: Copyright protected. Obtain permission from the original figure source.
  - attributes: ~
    create_dt: 2016-11-18T19:05:30
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    submission_dt: 2017-10-24T12:39:09
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    title: 25km Resolution
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    usage_limits: Copyright protected. Obtain permission from the original figure source.
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ordinal: 4
parents: []
references:
  - href: https://data.globalchange.gov/reference/dedfd6d8-a9f8-41c8-92a7-7426e7e014af.yaml
    uri: /reference/dedfd6d8-a9f8-41c8-92a7-7426e7e014af
regions: []
report_identifier: climate-science-special-report
source_citation: ~
submission_dt: 2017-08-31T13:34:19
time_end: ~
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title: Model Spatial Comparison
uri: /report/climate-science-special-report/chapter/projections/figure/model-spatial-scale-comparison
url: ~
usage_limits: Copyright protected. Obtain permission from the original figure source.