Modeling the tropical Pacific Ocean using a regional coupled climate model

A high-resolution tropical Pacific general circulation model (GCM) coupled to a global atmospheric GCM is described in this paper. The atmosphere component is the 5°×4°global general circulation model of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) with 9 levels in the vertical direction. The ocean component with a horizontal resolution of 0.5°, is based on a low-resolution model (2°×1°in longitude-latitude).Simulations of the ocean component are first compared with its previous version. Results show that the enhanced ocean horizontal resolution allows an improved ocean state to be simulated; this involves (1) an apparent decrease in errors in the tropical Pacific cold tongue region, which exists in many ocean models,(2) more realistic large-scale flows, and (3) an improved ability to simulate the interannual variability and a reduced root mean square error (RMSE) in a long time integration. In coupling these component models, a monthly "linear-regression" method is employed to correct the model's exchanged flux between the sea and the atmosphere. A 100-year integration conducted with the coupled GCM (CGCM) shows the effectiveness of such a method in reducing climate drift. Results from years 70 to 100 are described.The model produces a reasonably realistic annual cycle of equatorial SST. The large SSTA is confined to the eastern equatorial Pacific with little propagation. Irregular warm and cold events alternate with a broad spectrum of periods between 24 and 50 months, which is very realistic. But the simulated variability is weaker than the observed and is also asymmetric in the sense of the amplitude of the warm and cold events.     

一个灵活的海洋——大气耦合环流模式

Based on the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Climate System Model version 1(CSM-1), a Flexible coupled General Circulation Model version 0 (FGCM-0) is developed in this study through replacing CSM-1＇s oceanic component model with IAP L30T63 global oceanic general circulation model and some necessary modifications of the other component models. After the coupled model FGCM--0 is spun up for dozens of years, it has been run for 60 years without flux correction. The model does not only show the reasonable long-term mean climatology, but also reproduce a lot of features of the interannual variability of climate, e.g. the ENSO-like events in the tropical Pacific Ocean and the dipole mode pattern in the tropical Indian Ocean. Comparing FGCM-0 with the NCAR CSM-1, some common features are found, e.g. the overestimation of sea ice in the North Pacific and the simulated double ITCZ etc.The further analyses suggest that they may be attributed to errors in the atmospheric model.     

A Coupling Experiment of an Atmosphere and an Ocean Model with a Monthly Anomaly Exchange Scheme

A nine-layer spectral atmospheric general circulation model is coupled to a twenty-layer global oceanic general circulation model with the “prediction-correction” monthly anomaly exchange scheme which has been proposed at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP). A forty-year integration of the coupled model shows that the CGCM is fairly successful in keeping a reasonable pattern of the modelled SST although most of the Pacific become warmer than those given by the uncoupled ocean model. The model tends to reach a more realistic state than the uncoupled one in terms of downward surface heat flux into ocean particularly in the equatorial Pacific region. Also, the model is capable to simulate interannual variability of sea surface temperature in tropical region.     

A steady two-dimensional climate model with residual circulation

Based on dynamical energy transport and thermodynamic energy balance in the earth’s atmosphere-ocean system a steady two-dimensional climate model with residual circulation is proposed. In the model, we include some important physical processes with feedbacks such as ice caps-albedo, water vapor-tempera-ture, etc. The simulated steady temperature field is very close to that of the real atmosphere. The numerical experiments show that doubling of the atmospheric carbon dioxide results in temperature increase of 1~2oC at the low latitude surface and 6~8oC at the high latitude surface. It is shown that a 6% decrease in the solar constant is required for the -10oC ice edge to move from its present latitude ~70o to~50o.     

The Role of Southern High Latitude Wind Stress in Global Climate

In this paper, the role of westerly winds at southern high latitudes in global climate is investigated in a fully coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model. In the model, the wind stress south of 40°S is turned off with ocean and atmosphere fully coupled both locally and elsewhere. The coupled model explicitly demonstrates that a shutdown of southern high latitude wind stress induces a general cooling over the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) region, with surface Ekman flow and vertical mixing p...     

Air–Sea Coupling Enhances the East Asian Winter Climate Response to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation

A simple air–sea coupled model,the atmospheric general circulation model(AGCM) of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction coupled to a mixed-layer slab ocean model,is employed to investigate the impact of air–sea coupling on the signals of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation(AMO). A regional coupling strategy is applied,in which coupling is switched off in the extratropical North Atlantic Ocean but switched on in the open oceans elsewhere. The coupled model is forced with warm-phase AMO SST anomalies,and the modeled responses are compared with those from parallel uncoupled AGCM experiments with the same SST forcing. The results suggest that the regionally coupled responses not only resemble the AGCM simulation,but also have a stronger intensity. In comparison,the coupled responses bear greater similarity to the observational composite anomaly. Thus,air–sea coupling enhances the responses of the East Asian winter climate to the AMO. To determine the mechanism responsible for the coupling amplification,an additional set of AGCM experiments,forced with the AMO-induced tropical SST anomalies,is conducted. The SST anomalies are extracted from the simulated AMO-induced SST response in the regionally coupled model. The results suggest that the SST anomalies contribute to the coupling amplification. Thus,tropical air–sea coupling feedback tends to enhance the responses of the East Asian winter climate to the AMO.     

A Hybrid Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Model and Its Simulation of ENSO and Atmospheric Responses

A new hybrid coupled model(HCM) is presented in this study, which consists of an intermediate tropical Pacific Ocean model and a global atmospheric general circulation model. The ocean component is the intermediate ocean model(IOM)of the intermediate coupled model(ICM) used at the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences(IOCAS). The atmospheric component is ECHAM5, the fifth version of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology atmospheric general circulation model. The HCM integrates its atmospheric and oceanic components by using an anomaly coupling strategy. A100-year simulation has been made with the HCM and its simulation skills are evaluated, including the interannual variability of SST over the tropical Pacific and the ENSO-related responses of the global atmosphere. The model shows irregular occurrence of ENSO events with a spectral range between two and five years. The amplitude and lifetime of ENSO events and the annual phase-locking of SST anomalies are also reproduced realistically. Despite the slightly stronger variance of SST anomalies over the central Pacific than observed in the HCM, the patterns of atmospheric anomalies related to ENSO,such as sea level pressure, temperature and precipitation, are in broad agreement with observations. Therefore, this model can not only simulate the ENSO variability, but also reproduce the global atmospheric variability associated with ENSO, thereby providing a useful modeling tool for ENSO studies. Further model applications of ENSO modulations by ocean–atmosphere processes, and of ENSO-related climate prediction, are also discussed.     

SIMULATION OF SUMMER CLIMATE IN CHINA DURING 1997 AND 1998 USING A REGIONAL AIR-SEA COUPLED MODEL

Using the regional air-sea coupled climate model RegCM3-POM,a series of numerical experiments are performed to simulate the summer climate in 1997 and 1998 with different coupling time steps.The results show that the coupled model has good performance on the simulation of the summer sea surface temperature(SST) in 1997 and 1998,and the simulation results of CPL1(with the coupling time step at 1 hour) are similar to those of CPL6(with the coupling time step at 6 hours).The coupled model can well simulate SST differences between 1997 and 1998.As for the simulation of the drought in 1997 and the flood in 1998,the results of CPL6 are more accurate.The coupled model can well simulate the drought in 1997 over North China,and compared with the results of the atmosphere model RegCM3,the simulation ability of the coupled model is improved.The coupling model has better ability in the simulation of the circulation in the middle and low levels,and the water vapor transportation in the coupling model is reasonable in both 1997 and 1998.RegCM3(an uncoupled model) cannot correctly simulate the transportation path differences between 1997 and 1998,but the coupled model can simulate the differences well.     

DEVELOPMENT OF A COUPLED REGIONAL AIR-SEA MODEL AND ITS NUMERICAL SIMULATION FOR SUMMER MONSOON IN 1998*

A coupled regional air-sea model is developed by using the regional climate model (P-σ RCM) and the regional ocean model (POM),which is used to simulate East Asian monsoon and oceanic elements in East Asian coastal waters.The simulated surface layer oceanic elements are basically consistent with the reality and can reflect the interaction between the monsoon and the surface layer currents.The great difference with the reality is "cold drift" of the simulated surface temperature.The coupled model has certain ability to simulate the atmosphere geopotential height fields,precipitation and low-level southwest wind from May to August in 1998.It can display the process of summer monsoon onset during the third dekad of May and the evolution features after the onset.The differences between the simulation results of the coupled model and that of the single P-σ RCM are shown mainly in the low-level atmosphere and the model internal regions.     

A STEADY TWO-DIMENSIONAL CLIMATE MODEL WITH RESIDUAL CIRCULATION

Based on dynamical energy transport and thermodynamic energy balance in the earth's atmosphere-ocean system a steady two-dimensional climate model with residual circulation is proposed. In the model, we include some important physical processes with feedbacks such as ice caps-albedo, water vapor-temperature, etc. The simulated steady temperature field is very close to that of the real atmosphere. The numerical experiments show that doubling of the atmospheric carbon dioxide results in temperature increase of 1-2℃ at the low latitude surface and 6-8℃ at the high latitude surface. It is shown that a 6% decrease in the solar constant is required for the - 10℃ ice edge to move from its present latitude -70° to-50°.     

Climate simulations based on a different-grid nested and coupled model

An atmosphere-vegetation interaction model (AVIM) has been coupled with a nine-layer General Circulation Model (GCM) of Institute of Atmospheic Physics / State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (IAP/LASG), which is rhomboidally truncated at zonal wave number 15, to simulate global climatic mean states. AVIM is a model having inter-feedback between land surface processes and eco-physiological processes on land. As the first step to couple land with atmosphere completely, the physiological processes are fixed and only the physical part (generally named the SVAT (soil-vegetation-atmosphere-transfer scheme) model) of AVIM is nested into IAP/LASG L9R15 GCM. The ocean part of GCM is prescribed and its monthly sea surface temperature (SST) is the climatic mean value. With respect to the low resolution of GCM, i.e., each grid cell having longitude 7.5° and latitude 4.5°, the vegetation is given a high resolution of 1.5° by 1.5° to nest and couple the fine grid cells of land with the coarse grid cells of atmosphere. The coupling model has been integrated for 15years and its last ten-year mean of outputs was chosen for analysis.Compared with observed data and NCEP reanalysis, the coupled model simulates the main characteristics of global atmospheric circulation and the fields of temperature and moisture. In particular, the simulated precipitation and surface air temperature have sound results. The work creates a solid base on coupling climate models with the biosphere.     

Performance of the OPA/ARPEGE-T21 global ocean-atmosphere coupled model

 The climatology of the OPA/ARPEGE-T21 coupled general circulation model (GCM) is presented. The atmosphere GCM has a T21 spectral truncation and the ocean GCM has a 2^°×1.5^° average resolution. A 50-year climatic simulation is performed using the OASIS coupler, without flux correction techniques. The mean state and seasonal cycle for the last 10 years of the experiment are described and compared to the corresponding uncoupled experiments and to climatology when available. The model reasonably simulates most of the basic features of the observed climate. Energy budgets and transports in the coupled system, of importance for climate studies, are assessed and prove to be within available estimates. After an adjustment phase of a few years, the model stabilizes around a mean state where the tropics are warm and resemble a permanent ENSO, the Southern Ocean warms and almost no sea-ice is left in the Southern Hemisphere. The atmospheric circulation becomes more zonal and symmetric with respect to the equator. Once those systematic errors are established, the model shows little secular drift, the small remaining trends being mainly associated to horizontal physics in the ocean GCM. The stability of the model is shown to be related to qualities already present in the uncoupled GCMs used, namely a balanced radiation budget at the top-of-the-atmosphere and a tight ocean thermocline. Received: 1 February 1996 / Accepted: 1 August 1996     

An efficient climate model with a 3D ocean and statistical–dynamical atmosphere*

We describe a coupled climate model of intermediate complexity designed for use in global warming experiments. The atmospheric component is a two-dimensional (zonally averaged) statistical-dynamical model based on the Goddard Institute for Space Study's atmospheric general circulation model (GCM). In contrast with energy-balance models used in some climate models of intermediate complexity, this model includes full representation of the hydrological and momentum cycles. It also has parameterizations of the main physical processes, including a sophisticated radiation code. The ocean component is a coarse resolution ocean GCM with simplified global geometry based on the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory modular ocean model. Because of the simplified geometry the resolution in the western boundary layers can be readily increased compared to conventional coarse resolution models, without increasing the model's computational requirements in a significant way. The ocean model's efficiency is also greatly increased by using a moderate degree of asynchronous coupling between the oceanic momentum and tracer fields. We demonstrate that this still allows an accurate simulation of transient behavior, including the seasonal cycle. A 100 years simulation with the model requires less than 8 hours on a state-of the art workstation. The main novelty of the model is therefore a combination of computational efficiency, statistical-dynamical atmosphere and 3D ocean. Long-term present-day climate simulations are carried out using the coupled model with and without flux adjustments, and with either the Gent-McWilliams (GM) parametrization scheme or horizontal diffusion (HD) in the ocean. Deep ocean temperatures systematically decrease in the runs without flux adjustment. We demonstrate that the mismatch between heat transports in the uncoupled states of two models is the main cause for the systematic drift. In addition, changes in the circulation and sea-ice formation also contribute to the drift. Flux adjustments in the freshwater fluxes are shown to have a stabilizing effect on the thermohaline circulation in the model, whereas the adjustments in the heat fluxes tend to weaken the global "conveyor". To evaluate the model's response to transient external forcing global warming simulations are also carried out with the flux-adjusted version of the coupled model. The coupled model reproduces reasonably well the behavior of more sophisticated coupled GCMs for both current climate and for the global warming scenarios.     

A coupled atmosphere‐ocean model for transient climate change studies

Abstract

A new coupled atmosphere‐ocean model has been developed for climate predictions at decade to century scales. The atmospheric model is similar to that of Hansen et al. (1983) except that the atmospheric dynamic equations for mass and momentum are solved using Arakawa and Lamb's (1977) C grid scheme and the advection of potential enthalpy and water vapour uses the linear upstream scheme (Russell and Lerner, 1981). The new global ocean model conserves mass, allows for divergent flow, has a free surface and uses the linear upstream scheme for the advection of potential enthalpy and salt. Both models run at 4° × 5° resolution, with 9 vertical layers for the atmosphere and 13 layers for the ocean. Twelve straits are included, allowing for subgrid‐scale water flow. Runoff from land is routed into appropriate ocean basins. Atmospheric and oceanic surface fluxes are of opposite sign and are applied synchronously. Flux adjustments are not used. Except for partial strength alternating binomial filters (Shapiro, 1970), which are applied to the momentum components in the atmosphere and oceans, there is no explicit horizontal diffusion.

A 120‐year simulation of the coupled model starting from the oceanic initial conditions of Levitus (1982) is discussed. The model dynamics stabilize after several decades. The maximum northward ocean heat flux is 1.4 × 10¹⁵ W at 16°N. The model appears to maintain the vertical gradients characterizing the separation between the upper and deep ocean spheres. Inadequacies in the coupled model simulation lead to decreasing temperature and salinity in the high latitude North Atlantic and to a poor simulation of the northern North Atlantic thermohaline circulation. The mass transport of the Gulf Stream is about half of observed values, while the transports of the Kuroshio and Antarctic Circumpolar Currents are similar to observations. Additional deficiencies include a climate drift in the surface air temperature of 0.006°C year^‐1 due to a radiation imbalance of 7.4 Wm^‐2 at the top of the atmosphere and too warm temperatures in the eastern portions of tropical oceans. The coupled model should be useful for delineating modelling capabilities without the use of flux adjustments and should serve as a benchmark for future model improvements.     

Flux correction: tests with a simple ocean-atmosphere model

 Flux correction schemes are used in order to suppress the drift of coupled ocean atmosphere models. This technique is tested for a simple box model of the climate system. Two “perfect” models of the ocean and the atmosphere are available. These are coupled to form an ocean-atmosphere model representing the true climate system. This climate system is simulated by a climate model which is also constructed by coupling those two perfect models. This time, however, both models are run first separately as models of the atmosphere and the ocean. In that case, “observations” from the climate system are prescribed at the ocean surface in the uncoupled models. It is assumed that these observations are imperfect. A drift results, when these models are coupled to form an ocean-atmosphere stimulation model. A flux adjustment scheme is implemented to remove this drift. It is argued that the merits and shortcomings of the flux correction technique can be assessed more clearly this way than by coupling imperfect models as is done normally. Sensitivity tests are performed where either radiation parameters are changed or a salt anomaly is implanted. Model parameters are chosen such that the ocean has a thermally direct circulation in the unperturbed climate state. It is found that the flux correction technique is performing satisfactorily as long as the imposed perturbations are small enough so that the ocean circulation does not change its sense. If, however, the model climate is close to the transition to an indirect circulation, then the flux correction technique is unreliable. The predictions of the coupled model with flux correction may deviate substantially from the response of the climate system in that case. Received: 4 December 1995/Accepted: 15 October 1996     

Coupled ocean-atmosphere models with flux correction

A method is proposed for removing the drift of coupled atmosphere-ocean models, which in the past has often hindered the application of coupled models in climate response and sensitivity experiments. The ocean-atmosphere flux fields exhibit inconsistencies when evaluated separately for the individual sub-systems in independent, uncoupled mode equilibrium climate computations. In order to balance these inconsistencies a constant ocean-atmosphere flux correction field is introduced in the boundary conditions coupling the two sub-systems together. The method ensures that the coupled model operates at the reference climate state for which the individual model subsystems were designed without affecting the dynamical response of the coupled system in climate variability experiments. The method is illustrated for a simple two component box model and an ocean general circulation model coupled to a two layer diagnostic atmospheric model.     

Review of simulations of climate variability and change with the GFDL R30 coupled climate model

A review is presented of the development and simulation characteristics of the most recent version of a global coupled model for climate variability and change studies at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, as well as a review of the climate change experiments performed with the model. The atmospheric portion of the coupled model uses a spectral technique with rhomboidal 30 truncation, which corresponds to a transform grid with a resolution of approximately 3.75° longitude by 2.25° latitude. The ocean component has a resolution of approximately 1.875° longitude by 2.25° latitude. Relatively simple formulations of river routing, sea ice, and land surface processes are included. Two primary versions of the coupled model are described, differing in their initialization techniques and in the specification of sub-grid scale oceanic mixing of heat and salt. For each model a stable control integration of near millennial scale duration has been conducted, and the characteristics of both the time-mean and variability are described and compared to observations. A review is presented of a suite of climate change experiments conducted with these models using both idealized and realistic estimates of time-varying radiative forcing. Some experiments include estimates of forcing from past changes in volcanic aerosols and solar irradiance. The experiments performed are described, and some of the central findings are highlighted. In particular, the observed increase in global mean surface temperature is largely contained within the spread of simulated global mean temperatures from an ensemble of experiments using observationally-derived estimates of the changes in radiative forcing from increasing greenhouse gases and sulfate aerosols.     

CoPIVEP: a theory-based analysis of coupled processes and interannual variability in the Equatorial Pacific in four coupled GCMs

 The interannual variability over the tropical Pacific and a possible link with the mean state or the seasonal cycle is examined in four coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation models (GCM). Each model is composed of a high-resolution ocean GCM of either the tropical Pacific or near-global oceans coupled to a moderate-resolution atmospheric GCM, without using flux correction. The oceanic subsurface is considered to describe the mean state or the seasonal cycle through the analytical formulations of some potential coupled processes. These coupled processes characterise the zonal gradient of sea surface temperature (hereafter SST), the oceanic vertical gradient of temperature and the equatorial upwelling. The simulated SST patterns of the mean state and the interannual signals are generally too narrow. The grid of the oceanic model could control the structure of the SST interannual signals while the behaviour of the atmospheric model could be important in the link between the oceanic surface and the subsurface. The first SST EOFs are different between the coupled models, however, the second SST EOFs are quite similar and could correspond to the return to the normal state while that of the observations (COADS) could favour the initial anomaly. All the models seem to simulate a similar equatorial wave-like dynamics to return to the normal state. The more the basic state is unstable from the coupled processes point of view, the more the interannual signal are high. It seems that the basic state could control the intensity of the interannual variability. Two models, which have a significant seasonal variation of the interannual variance, also have a significant seasonal variation of the instability with a few months lag. The potential seasonal phase locking of the interannual fluctuations need to be examined in more models to confirm its existence in current tropical GCMs. Received: 30 July 1999 / Accepted: 25 April 2000     

Coupling of a regional atmospheric model (RegCM3) and a regional oceanic model (FVCOM) over the maritime continent

Climatological high resolution coupled climate model simulations for the maritime continent have been carried out using the regional climate model (RegCM) version 3 and the finite volume coastal ocean model (FVCOM) specifically designed to resolve regions characterized by complex geometry and bathymetry. The RegCM3 boundary forcing is provided by the EMCWF-ERA40 re-analysis. FVCOM is embedded in the Global MITgcm which provides boundary forcing. The domain of the coupled regional model covers the entire South China Sea with its through-flow, the entire Indonesian archipelago with the Indonesian through-flow (ITF) and includes a large region in the western Pacific and eastern Indian oceans. The coupled model is able to provide stable and realistic climatological simulations for a specific decade of atmospheric–oceanic variables without flux correction. The major focus of this work is on oceanic properties. First, the coupled simulation is assessed against ocean-only simulations carried out under two different sets of air–sea heat fluxes. The first set, provided by the MITgcm, is proved to be grossly deficient as the heat fluxes are evaluated by a two-dimensional, zonally averaged atmosphere and the simulated SST have anomalous cold biases. Hence the MITgcm fluxes are discarded. The second set, the NCEP re-analysis heat fluxes, produces a climatological evolution of the SST with an average cold bias of ~?0.8 °C. The coupling eliminates the cold bias and the coupled SST evolution is in excellent agreement with the analogous evolution in the SODA re-analysis data. The detailed comparison of oceanic circulation properties with the International Nusantara Stratification and Transport observations shows that the coupled simulation produces the best estimate of the total ITF transport through the Makassar strait while the transports of three ocean-only simulations are all underestimated. The annual cycle of the transport is also very well reproduced. The coupling also considerably improves the vertical thermal structure of the Makassar cross section in the upper layer affected by the heat fluxes. On the other hand, the coupling is relatively ineffective in improving the precipitation fields even though the coupled simulation captures reasonably well the precipitation annual cycle at three land stations in different latitudes.