A local terrain smoothing approach for stabilizing microscale  and high-resolution mesoscale simulations: a case  study using FastEddy<span style="position:relative; bottom:0.5em; " class="text">®</span> (v3.0) and WRF (v4.6.0)

Raluy-López, Eloisa; Muñoz-Esparza, Domingo; Montávez, Juan Pedro

doi:10.5194/gmd-19-5139-2026

Articles | Volume 19, issue 11

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-5139-2026

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

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-5139-2026

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

Articles | Volume 19, issue 11

Development and technical paper

|

15 Jun 2026

Development and technical paper |

| 15 Jun 2026

A local terrain smoothing approach for stabilizing microscale and high-resolution mesoscale simulations: a case study using FastEddy® (v3.0) and WRF (v4.6.0)

Eloisa Raluy-López, Domingo Muñoz-Esparza, and Juan Pedro Montávez

Viewed

Total article views: 6,898 (including HTML, PDF, and XML)

HTML	PDF	XML	Total	BibTeX	EndNote
4,717	1,955	226	6,898	193	179

HTML: 4,717
PDF: 1,955
XML: 226
Total: 6,898
BibTeX: 193
EndNote: 179

Views and downloads (calculated since 23 Sep 2025)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Sep 2025	2,430	65	15	2,510
Oct 2025	590	105	25	720
Nov 2025	233	194	40	467
Dec 2025	180	250	70	500
Jan 2026	386	305	10	701
Feb 2026	225	241	9	475
Mar 2026	438	517	42	997
Apr 2026	102	136	3	241
May 2026	49	79	3	131
Jun 2026	17	17	1	35
Jul 2026	67	46	8	121

Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 23 Sep 2025)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Sep 2025	2,430	65	15	2,510
Oct 2025	590	105	25	720
Nov 2025	233	194	40	467
Dec 2025	180	250	70	500
Jan 2026	386	305	10	701
Feb 2026	225	241	9	475
Mar 2026	438	517	42	997
Apr 2026	102	136	3	241
May 2026	49	79	3	131
Jun 2026	17	17	1	35
Jul 2026	67	46	8	121

Viewed (geographical distribution)

Total article views: 6,898 (including HTML, PDF, and XML) Thereof 6,836 with geography defined and 62 with unknown origin.

Country	#	Views	%

1

1

Cited

Saved (final revised paper)

Latest update: 27 Jul 2026

Short summary

High-resolution atmospheric simulations can become numerically unstable over steep terrain. Traditional terrain smoothing approaches modify the domain globally, reducing terrain detail. We developed a local smoothing method that improves simulation stability while only modifying steep-slope points, helping to retain the benefits of high-resolution modeling. Tested in a mesoscale and a microscale atmospheric model, it is computationally efficient, easy to implement, and adaptable to other models.