A theoretical model for realistic local climates

Abstract

We write a nonlinear model that predicts the climate (temperature and humidity) on the surface of a small region on Earth, perform numerical investigations using the model, and compare the results to real climate on a variety of regions on Earth. It the parameters are chosen keeping into consideration the climatic Köppen zone to which the region belongs, the numerical model accurately reproduces the real climate. The model takes into account the doubly-periodic forcing of the solar radiation (annual and daily), the laws of irradiance, the fact that the Earth has land and oceans with different thermic inertia, and the humidity of the air due to evaporation. This enables us to reproduce remarkable features of Earth's climate such as lag of seasons, lag of noons, and asymmetric evolution of daily temperatures. The model can easily be adapted to planets with non-terrestrial astronomic parameters. We conclude this article with an investigation of an Earth with eccentricity higher than real.