Advances in Geosciences www.adv-geosci.net 1680-7340 1680-7359 25 Precipitation: Measurement, Climatology, Remote Sensing, and Modeling (EGU Session 2009) 2010 10.5194/adgeo-25-103-2010 http://www.adv-geosci.net/25/103/2010/ http://www.adv-geosci.net/25/103/2010/adgeo-25-103-2010.html http://www.adv-geosci.net/25/103/2010/adgeo-25-103-2010.pdf 103 110 2010-05-07 Modelling of orographic precipitation over Iberia: a springtime case study M. J. Costa mjcosta@uevora.pt R. Salgado D. Santos V. Levizzani D. Bortoli A. M. Silva P. Pinto Évora Geophysics Centre, University of Évora, Évora, Portugal Physics Department, University of Évora, Évora, Portugal Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, ISAC-CNR, Bologna, Italy Meteorological Institute of Portugal, Lisboa, Portugal Orographic precipitation is a result of very complex processes and its study using numerical models is of utmost importance since it can open an important avenue to the improvement of precipitation forecasts, especially during the warm season. Mainland Portugal is characterised by a very variable terrain between the north and south regions, the latter being much smoother, with sparse mountains that barely reach 1000 m. Conversely, several mountain ranges are distributed over Spain with heights often exceeding 1500 m altitude. A mesoscale non-hydrostatic atmospheric model (MesoNH) is used to study the orographic precipitation during a limited period in spring of 2002 over the Iberian Peninsula. 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