%0 journal article
%@ 1239-6095
%A Gao, Y., Weiher, S., Markkanen, T., Pietikaeinen, J.-P., Gregow, H., Henttonen, H.M., Jacob, D., Laaksonen, A.

%D 2015
%J Boreal Environment Research
%N 2
%P 261-282 

%T Implementation of the CORINE land use classification in the regional climate model REMO
%U 
2 
%X Regional climate models provide an effective way to study the effects of land use changes on regional climate conditions. A precise land cover map is a precondition for land use change studies. We introduce a more realistic high-resolution land cover map, CORINE Land Cover (CLC), to replace the Global Land Cover Characteristics Database (GLCCD), which is used as a standard land cover map in the regional climate model REMO. In this study, present-day climate simulations over northern Europe are performed by using REMO at 18-km resolution with both CLC and GLCCD. Simulated maximum and minimum 2-m air temperatures, diurnal temperature range and precipitation are assessed with the observation-based E-OBS data. The updated CLC enhances the realism of the description of present-day land surface. However, biases from simulated climate conditions to observations are only marginally reduced while more improvements are expected to be achieved by further developments in model physics.