Slope-Constrained Orography (SCO v1.0) for explicit discrete-slope control in terrain preprocessing: a case study with WRF-ARW (v4.6.1)

Ma, Yulong; Jiang, Xingwen; Mu, Lin; Heng, Zhiwei

doi:10.5194/gmd-19-10433-2026

Articles | Volume 19, issue 21

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-10433-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-10433-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 21

Development and technical paper

|

04 Nov 2026

Development and technical paper |

| 04 Nov 2026

Slope-Constrained Orography (SCO v1.0) for explicit discrete-slope control in terrain preprocessing: a case study with WRF-ARW (v4.6.1)

Yulong Ma, Xingwen Jiang, Lin Mu, and Zhiwei Heng

Data sets

Reproducibility archive for "Slope-Constrained Orography (SCO v1.0) for explicit discrete-slope control in terrain preprocessing" Yulong Ma et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20809228

ERA5 hourly data on pressure levels from 1940 to present H. Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.bd0915c6

ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1940 to present H. Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.adbb2d47

ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003 NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team https://doi.org/10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.003

Model code and software

SCO v1.0: Slope-Constrained Orography for WRF terrain preprocessing Yulong Ma https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19501184

Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model and WRF Preprocessing System (WPS) (WRF-ARW v4.6.1) WRF Community and NCAR https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20809210

Short summary

High-resolution weather models over mountains need terrain smoothing to avoid crashing, but standard methods smooth everywhere regardless of need. We developed Slope-Constrained Orography, a tool that uses one slope-angle setting to adjust only the points that are too steep. Tested over the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, stable simulations were achieved while modifying far less terrain than standard smoothing, offering a simpler approach to running weather models over steep terrain.