Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-575
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-575
27 Feb 2025
 | 27 Feb 2025

Brief communication: Reanalyses underperform in cold regions, raising concerns for climate services and research

Bin Cao and Stephan Gruber

Abstract. Many changes in cold regions are amplified by nonlinear processes involving ice, and have important consequences locally and globally. We show that the average ensemble spread of the mean annual air temperature (1.5 °C) in the reanalyses is 90 % greater in cold regions compared to the other regions and shows pronounced disagreement in the trend. The ensemble spread in the mean annual maximum snow water equivalent is found greater than the ensemble mean. The reduced quality of reanalyses in cold regions, coinciding with sparse in situ observations and low population, points to challenges in how we represent cold-regions phenomena in simulation systems and limits our ability to support climate research and services.

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Journal article(s) based on this preprint

14 Oct 2025
Brief communication: Reanalyses underperform in cold regions, raising concerns for climate services and research
Bin Cao and Stephan Gruber
The Cryosphere, 19, 4525–4532, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4525-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4525-2025, 2025
Short summary
Bin Cao and Stephan Gruber

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • CC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-575', Steven Margulis, 28 Feb 2025
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-575', Anonymous Referee #1, 01 Apr 2025
    • AC1: 'Quick Reply on RC1', Bin Cao, 02 Apr 2025
    • AC3: 'Reply on RC1', Bin Cao, 20 May 2025
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-575', Anonymous Referee #2, 19 Apr 2025

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • CC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-575', Steven Margulis, 28 Feb 2025
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-575', Anonymous Referee #1, 01 Apr 2025
    • AC1: 'Quick Reply on RC1', Bin Cao, 02 Apr 2025
    • AC3: 'Reply on RC1', Bin Cao, 20 May 2025
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-575', Anonymous Referee #2, 19 Apr 2025

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
ED: Reconsider after major revisions (further review by editor and referees) (20 May 2025) by Cécile Ménard
AR by Bin Cao on behalf of the Authors (20 May 2025)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (02 Jun 2025) by Cécile Ménard
RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (10 Jun 2025)
RR by Anonymous Referee #2 (22 Jun 2025)
ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (04 Jul 2025) by Cécile Ménard
AR by Bin Cao on behalf of the Authors (11 Jul 2025)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Publish as is (28 Jul 2025) by Cécile Ménard
AR by Bin Cao on behalf of the Authors (28 Jul 2025)

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

14 Oct 2025
Brief communication: Reanalyses underperform in cold regions, raising concerns for climate services and research
Bin Cao and Stephan Gruber
The Cryosphere, 19, 4525–4532, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4525-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4525-2025, 2025
Short summary
Bin Cao and Stephan Gruber
Bin Cao and Stephan Gruber

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The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.

Short summary
The climate-driven changes in cold regions have an outsized importance for local resilient communities and for global climate through teleconnections. We shows that reanalyses are less accurate in cold regions compared to other more populated regions, coincident with the low density of observations. Our findings likely point to similar gaps in our knowledge and capabilities for climate research and services in cold regions.
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