Storm track sensitivity to sea surface temperature resolution in a regional atmosphere model

A high resolution regional atmosphere model is used to investigate the sensitivity of the North Atlantic storm track to the spatial and temporal resolution of the sea surface temperature (SST) data used as a lower boundary condition. The model is run over an unusually large domain covering all of the North Atlantic and Europe, and is shown to produce a very good simulation of the observed storm track structure. The model is forced at the lateral boundaries with 15–20 years of data from the ERA-40 reanalysis, and at the lower boundary by SST data of differing resolution. The impacts of increasing spatial and temporal resolution are assessed separately, and in both cases increasing the resolution leads to subtle, but significant changes in the storm track. In some, but not all cases these changes act to reduce the small storm track biases seen in the model when it is forced with low-resolution SSTs. In addition there are several clear mesoscale responses to increased spatial SST resolution, with surface heat fluxes and convective precipitation increasing by 10–20% along the Gulf Stream SST gradient.     

A high resolution nonhydrostatic tropical atmospheric model and its performance

A high resolution nonhydrostatic tropical atmospheric model is developed by using a ready-made regional atmospheric modeling system. The motivation is to investigate the convective activities associated with the tropical intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) through a cloud resolving calculation. Due to limitations in computing resources, a 2000 kmx2000 km region covering the forefront of an ISO-related westerly is selected as the model domain, in which a cloud-resolving integration with a 5-km horizontal resolution is conducted. The results indicate the importance of stratus-cumulus interactions in the organization of the cloud clusters embedded in the ISO. In addition, comparative integrations with 2-km and 5-km grid sizes are conducted, which suggest no distinctive differences between the two cases although some finer structures of convections are discernible in the 2-km case. The significance of this study resides in supplying a powerful tool for investigating tropical cloud activities without the controversy of cloud parameterizations. The parallel computing method applied in this model allows sufficient usage of computer memory, which is different from the usual method used when parallelizing regional model. Further simulation for the global tropics with a resolution around 5 km is being prepared.     

Climate sensitivity due to increased CO2: experiments with a coupled atmosphere and ocean general circulation model

A version of the National Center for Atmospheric Research community climate model — a global, spectral (R15) general circulation model — is coupled to a coarse-grid (5° latitude-] longitude, four-layer) ocean general circulation model to study the response of the climate system to increases of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂). Three simulations are run: one with an instantaneous doubling of atmospheric CO₂ (from 330 to 660 ppm), another with the CO₂ concentration starting at 330 ppm and increasing linearly at a rate of 1% per year, and a third with CO₂ held constant at 330 pm. Results at the end of 30 years of simulation indicate a globally averaged surface air temperature increase of 1.6° C for the instantaneous doubling case and 0.7°C for the transient forcing case. Inherent characteristics of the coarse-grid ocean model flow sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) in the tropics and higher-than-observed SSTs and reduced sea-ice extent at higher latitudes] produce lower sensitivity in this model after 30 years than in earlier simulations with the same atmosphere coupled to a 50-m, slab-ocean mixed layer. Within the limitations of the simulated meridional overturning, the thermohaline circulation weakens in the coupled model with doubled CO₂ as the high-latitude ocean-surface layer warms and freshens and westerly wind stress is decreased. In the transient forcing case with slowly increasing CO₂ (30% increase after 30 years), the zonal mean warming of the ocean is most evident in the surface layer near 30°–50° S. Geographical plots of surface air temperature change in the transient case show patterns of regional climate anomalies that differ from those in the instantaneous CO₂ doubling case, particularly in the North Atlantic and northern European regions. This suggests that differences in CO₂ forcing in the climate system are important in CO₂ response in regard to time-dependent climate anomaly regimes. This confirms earlier studies with simple climate models that instantaneous CO₂ doubling simulations may not be analogous in all respects to simulations with slowly increasing CO₂.A portion of this study is supported by the US Department of Energy as part of its Carbon Dioxide Research Program     

Response Process of Oceanto AtmosphericForcing and Optimal Response Frequency in the CZ Ocean Model

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CO2 climate sensitivity and snow-sea-ice albedo parameterization in an atmospheric GCM coupled to a mixed-layer ocean model

The snow-sea-ice albedo parameterization in an atmospheric general circulation model (GCM), coupled to a simple mixed-layer ocean and run with an annual cycle of solar forcing, is altered from a version of the same model described by Washington and Meehl (1984). The model with the revised formulation is run to equilibrium for 1 × CO₂ and 2 × CO₂ experiments. The 1 ×CO₂ (control) simulation produces a global mean climate about 1° warmer than the original version, and sea-ice extent is reduced. The model with the altered parameterization displays heightened sensitivity in the global means, but the geographical patterns of climate change due to increased carbon dioxide (CO₂) are qualitatively similar. The magnitude of the climate change is affected, not only in areas directly influenced by snow and ice changes but also in other regions of the globe, including the tropics where sea-surface temperature, evaporation, and precipitation over the oceans are greater. With the less-sensitive formulation, the global mean surface air temperature increase is 3.5 °C, and the increase of global mean precipitation is 7.12%. The revised formulation produces a globally averaged surface air temperature increase of 4.04 °C and a precipitation increase of 7.25%, as well as greater warming of the upper tropical troposphere. Sensitivity of surface hydrology is qualitatively similar between the two cases with the larger-magnitude changes in the revised snow and ice-albedo scheme experiment. Variability of surface air temperature in the model is comparable to observations in most areas except at high latitudes during winter. In those regions, temporal variation of the sea-ice margin and fluctuations of snow cover dependent on the snow-ice-albedo formulation contribute to larger-than-observed temperature variability. This study highlights an uncertainty associated with results from current climate GCMs that use highly parameterized snow-sea-ice albedo schemes with simple mixed-layer ocean models.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.     

Coupling an ocean wave model to an atmospheric general circulation model

A coupled model, consisting of an ocean wave model and an atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM), is integrated under permanent July conditions. The wave model is forced by the AGCM wind stress, whereas the wind waves modify the AGCM surface fluxes of momentum, sensible and latent heat. We investigate the following aspects of the coupled model: how realistic are the wave fields, how strong is the coupling, and how sensitive is the atmospheric circulation to the spatially and temporally varying wave field. The wave climatology of the coupled model compares favorably with observational data. The interaction between the two models is largest (although weak) in the storm track in the Southern Hemisphere. Young windsea, which is associated with enhanced surface fluxes is generated mostly in the equatorward frontal area of an individual cyclone. However, the enhancement of the surface fluxes is too small to significantly modify the climatological mean atmospheric circulation.This paper was presented at the Second International Conference on Modelling of Global Climate Variability, held in Hamburg 7–11 September 1992 under the auspices of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology. Guest Editor for these papers is L. Dümenil     

A world ocean model for greenhouse sensitivity studies: resolution intercomparison and the role of diagnostic forcing

We have developed an improved version of a world ocean model with the intention of coupling to an atmospheric model. This article documents the simulation capability of this 1° global ocean model, shows improvements over our earlier 5° version, and compares it to features simulated with a 0.5° model. These experiments use a model spin-up methodology whereby the ocean model can subsequently be coupled to an atmospheric model and used for order 100-year coupled model integrations. With present-day computers, 1° is a reasonable compromise in resolution that allows for century-long coupled experiments. The 1° ocean model is derived from a 0.5°-resolution model developed by A. Semtner (Naval Postgraduate School) and R. Chervin (National Center for Atmospheric Research) for studies of the global eddy-resolving world ocean circulation. The 0.5° bottom topography and continental outlines have been altered to be compatible with the 1° resolution, and the Arctic Ocean has been added. We describe the ocean simulation characteristics of the 1° version and compare the result of weakly constraining (three-year time scale) the three-dimensional temperature and salinity fields to the observations below the thermocline (710 m) with the model forced only at the top of the ocean by observed annual mean wind stress, temperature, and salinity. The 1° simulations indicate that major ocean circulation patterns are greatly improved compared to the 5° version and are qualitatively reproduced in comparison to the 0.5° version. Using the annual mean top forcing alone in a 100-year simulation with the 1° version preserves the general features of the major observed temperature and salinity structure with most climate drift occurring mainly beneath the thermocline in the first 50–75 years. Because the thermohaline circulation in the 1° version is relatively weak with annual mean forcing, we demonstrate the importance of the seasonal cycle by performing two sensitivity experiments. Results show a dramatic intensification of the meridional overturning circulation (order of magnitude) with perpetual winter surface temperature forcing in the North Atlantic and strong intensification (factor of three) with perpetual early winter temperatures in that region. These effects are felt throughout the Atlantic (particularly an intensified and northward-shifted Gulf Stream outflow). In the Pacific, the temperature gradient strengthens in the thermocline, thus helping counter the systematic error of a thermocline that is too diffuse.Partial support is provided by the Office of Health and Environmental Research of the US Department of Energy The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation     

LMDZ5B: the atmospheric component of the IPSL climate model with revisited parameterizations for clouds and convection

Based on a decade of research on cloud processes, a new version of the LMDZ atmospheric general circulation model has been developed that corresponds to a complete recasting of the parameterization of turbulence, convection and clouds. This LMDZ5B version includes a mass-flux representation of the thermal plumes or rolls of the convective boundary layer, coupled to a bi-Gaussian statistical cloud scheme, as well as a parameterization of the cold pools generated below cumulonimbus by re-evaporation of convective precipitation. The triggering and closure of deep convection are now controlled by lifting processes in the sub-cloud layer. An available lifting energy and lifting power are provided both by the thermal plumes and by the spread of cold pools. The individual parameterizations were carefully validated against the results of explicit high resolution simulations. Here we present the work done to go from those new concepts and developments to a full 3D atmospheric model, used in particular for climate change projections with the IPSL-CM5B coupled model. Based on a series of sensitivity experiments, we document the differences with the previous LMDZ5A version distinguishing the role of parameterization changes from that of model tuning. Improvements found previously in single-column simulations of case studies are confirmed in the 3D model: (1) the convective boundary layer and cumulus clouds are better represented and (2) the diurnal cycle of convective rainfall over continents is delayed by several hours, solving a longstanding problem in climate modeling. The variability of tropical rainfall is also larger in LMDZ5B at intraseasonal time-scales. Significant biases of the LMDZ5A model however remain, or are even sometimes amplified. The paper emphasizes the importance of parameterization improvements and model tuning in the frame of climate change studies as well as the new paradigm that represents the improvement of 3D climate models under the control of single-column case studies simulations.     

Sensitivity experiments performed with an energy balance atmosphere model coupled to an advection-diffusion ocean model

Summary In this paper a simple climate model is presented which is used to perform some sensitivity experiments. The atmospheric part is represented by a vertically and zonally averaged layer in which the surface air temperature, radiative fluxes at the surface and at the top of the atmosphere, the turbulent fluxes between atmosphere and surface and the snow cover are calculated. This atmospheric layer is coupled to a two-dimensional advection-diffusion ocean model in which the zonal overturning pattern is prescribed. The ocean model evaluates the temperature distribution, the amount of sea-ice and the meridional and vertical heat fluxes. The present-day climate simulated by the model compares reasonably well with observations of the seasonal and latitudinal distribution of temperature, radiation, surface alebdo, sea-ice and snow cover and meridional energy fluxes. Then, the sensitivity of the model-simulated present-day climate to perturbations in the incident solar radiation at the top of the atmosphere is investigated. The temperature response displays large latitudinal and seasonal variations, which is in qualitative agreement with results obtained with other climate models. It is found that the seasonal variation of sea-ice cover (and hence, the effective oceanic heat capacity) is one of the most important elements determining seasonal variations in climate sensitivity. Differences in sensitivity between the seasonal and annual mean version of the model are discussed. Finally, the equilibrium response to perturbations in some selected model variables is presented; these variables include meridional diffusion coefficients, drag coefficient, sea-ice thickness, atmospheric CO₂-concentration and cloud optical thickness.With 13 Figures     

WRF模式中微物理和积云参数化方案的对比试验

基于中尺度大气数值模式WRF,检验分析YSU和MYJ两种边界层参数化方案和分辨率分别为1 km（称为USGS）和500 m（称为MODIS）的两类下垫面资料对2014年5月9—12日青岛一次暴雨过程模拟的影响。分析表明, YSU和MYJ方案都能模拟出强降雨带的位置和强度,MYJ试验对大雨TS评分高达0.88,YSU对暴雨TS评分为0.65;和USGS试验相比,MODIS试验提高了暴雨的TS评分,提高率为6.2%,但对大雨仍易空报。YSU、MYJ和MODIS试验较好地模拟了2 m气温、10 m风向。YSU模拟的2 m气温准确率是降雨前优于降雨开始后,MYJ则相反;MODIS试验预报沿海地区气温偏高。和USGS相比,MODIS提高了近地面风速和风向的模拟精度。总体上,所有试验方案对所考虑气象要素的模拟,基本上是内陆站准确率高于沿海站,YSU优于MYJ,MODIS优于USGS。

     

海气耦合非线性振荡与大气环流年变

本文利用作者建立的一个海气耦合的非线性动力系统,分别用定性和数值方法,分析定常强迫的自治系统和有周期性强迫的非自治系统中极限环解的性质,以此说明海气耦合振荡及大气环流年变的某些特征。     

海洋对大气反馈的研究进展及其诊断方法讨论

回顾了近10 a海洋对大气反馈作用的研究进展,讨论待解决的一个关键问题——怎样在观测研究中有效分离不同海区对大气异常的独立贡献.一般常用方法为利用线性回归或偏相关方法扣除外来主要干扰因子(事先已知),但该方法对解决外来未知海区影响有很大的局限性.广义平衡反馈分析方法(generalized equilibrium feedback assessment,GEFA)可以避免传统方法受未知海区影响的困扰,自动把各海区对大气异常的单独贡献分离出来.它的有效性在简单模式和观测分析中得到了初步验证.GEFA为提高海洋对大气反馈作用的认识提供了一种简单有效的统计工具.     

Impact of ocean model resolution on CCSM climate simulations

The current literature provides compelling evidence suggesting that an eddy-resolving (as opposed to eddy-permitting or eddy-parameterized) ocean component model will significantly impact the simulation of the large-scale climate, although this has not been fully tested to date in multi-decadal global coupled climate simulations. The purpose of this paper is to examine how resolved ocean fronts and eddies impact the simulation of large-scale climate. The model used for this study is the NCAR Community Climate System Model version 3.5 (CCSM3.5)—the forerunner to CCSM4. Two experiments are reported here. The control experiment is a 155-year present-day climate simulation using a 0.5° atmosphere component (zonal resolution 0.625 meridional resolution 0.5°; land surface component at the same resolution) coupled to ocean and sea-ice components with zonal resolution of 1.2° and meridional resolution varying from 0.27° at the equator to 0.54° in the mid-latitudes. The second simulation uses the same atmospheric and land-surface models coupled to eddy-resolving 0.1° ocean and sea-ice component models. The simulations are compared in terms of how the representation of smaller scale features in the time mean ocean circulation and ocean eddies impact the mean and variable climate. In terms of the global mean surface temperature, the enhanced ocean resolution leads to a ubiquitous surface warming with a global mean surface temperature increase of about 0.2?°C relative to the control. The warming is largest in the Arctic and regions of strong ocean fronts and ocean eddy activity (i.e., Southern Ocean, western boundary currents). The Arctic warming is associated with significant losses of sea-ice in the high-resolution simulation. The sea surface temperature gradients in the North Atlantic, in particular, are better resolved in the high-resolution model leading to significantly sharper temperature gradients and associated large-scale shifts in the rainfall. In the extra-tropics, the interannual temperature variability is increased with the resolved eddies, and a notable increases in the amplitude of the El Ni?o and the Southern Oscillation is also detected. Changes in global temperature anomaly teleconnections and local air-sea feedbacks are also documented and show large changes in ocean–atmosphere coupling. In particular, local air-sea feedbacks are significantly modified by the increased ocean resolution. In the high-resolution simulation in the extra-tropics there is compelling evidence of stronger forcing of the atmosphere by SST variability arising from ocean dynamics. This coupling is very weak or absent in the low-resolution model.     

Sensitivity of tropical Atlantic climate to mixing in a coupled ocean–atmosphere model

The sensitivity of tropical Atlantic climate to upper ocean mixing is investigated using an ocean-only model and a coupled ocean–atmosphere model. The upper ocean thermal structure and associated atmospheric circulation prove to be strongly related to the strength of upper ocean mixing. Using the heat balance in the mixed layer it is shown that an excessively cold equatorial cold tongue can be attributed to entrainment flux at the base of the oceanic mixed layer, that is too large. Enhanced entrainment efficiency acts to deepen the mixed layer and causes strong reduction in the upper ocean divergence in the central equatorial Atlantic. As a result, the simulated sea surface temperature, thermocline structure, and upwelling velocities are close to the observed estimates. In the coupled model, the seasonal migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) reduces when the entrainment efficiency in the oceanic mixed layer is enhanced. The precipitation rates decrease in the equatorial region and increase along 10°N, resulting in a more realistic Atlantic Marine ITCZ. The reduced meridional surface temperature gradient in the eastern tropical Atlantic prohibits the development of convective precipitation in the southeastern part of the tropical Atlantic. Also, the simulation of tropical Atlantic variability as expressed in the meridional gradient mode and the eastern cold tongue mode improves when the entrainment efficiency is enhanced.     

A Coupled General Circulation Model for the Tropical Pacific Ocean and Global Atmosphere

On the basis of Zeng’s theoretical design, a coupled general circulation model (CGCM) is developed with its characteristics different from other CGCMs such as the unified vertical coordinates and subtraction of the standard stratification for both atmosphere and ocean, available energy consideration, and so on. The oceanic component is a free surface tropical Pacific Ocean GCM between 30oN and 30oS with horizontal grid spacing of 1o in latitude and 2o in longitude, and with 14 vertical layers. The atmospheric component it a global GCM with low-resolution of 4o in latitude and 5o in longitude, and two layers or equal man in the vertical between the surface and 200 hPa. The atmospheric GCM includes comprehensive physical processes. The coupled model is subjected to seasonally-varying cycle. Several coupling experiments, ranging from straight forward coupling without flux correction to one with flux correction, and to so-called predictor-corrector monthly coupling (PCMC), are conducted to show the existence and final controlling of the climate drift in the coupled system. After removing the climate drift with the PCMC scheme, the coupled model is integrated for more than twenty years. The results show reasonable simulations of the annual mean and its seasonal cycle of the atmospheric and oceanic circulation. The model also produces the coherent interannual variations of the climate system, manifesting the observed El Ni?o / Southern Oscillation (ENSO).     

On the sensitivity of Antarctic sea ice model biases to atmospheric forcing uncertainties

Climate Dynamics - Although atmospheric reanalyses are an extremely valuable tool to study the climate of polar regions, they suffer from large uncertainties in these data-poor areas. In this work,...     

The sensitivity of the tropical circulation and Maritime Continent precipitation to climate model resolution

The dependence of the annual mean tropical precipitation on horizontal resolution is investigated in the atmospheric version of the Hadley Centre General Environment Model. Reducing the grid spacing from about 350 km to about 110 km improves the precipitation distribution in most of the tropics. In particular, characteristic dry biases over South and Southeast Asia including the Maritime Continent as well as wet biases over the western tropical oceans are reduced. The annual-mean precipitation bias is reduced by about one third over the Maritime Continent and the neighbouring ocean basins associated with it via the Walker circulation. Sensitivity experiments show that much of the improvement with resolution in the Maritime Continent region is due to the specification of better resolved surface boundary conditions (land fraction, soil and vegetation parameters) at the higher resolution. It is shown that in particular the formulation of the coastal tiling scheme may cause resolution sensitivity of the mean simulated climate. The improvement in the tropical mean precipitation in this region is not primarily associated with the better representation of orography at the higher resolution, nor with changes in the eddy transport of moisture. Sizeable sensitivity to changes in the surface fields may be one of the reasons for the large variation of the mean tropical precipitation distribution seen across climate models.     

A simple model of the atmospheric boundary layer; sensitivity to surface evaporation

A simple formulation of the boundary layer is developed for use in large-scale models and other situations where simplicity is required. The formulation is suited for use in models where some resolution is possible within the boundary layer, but where the resolution is insufficient for resolving the detailed boundary-layer structure and overlying capping inversion. Surface fluxes are represented in terms of similarity theory while turbulent diffusivities above the surface layer are formulated in terms of bulk similarity considerations and matching conditions at the top of the surface layer. The boundary-layer depth is expressed in terms of a bulk Richardson number which is modified to include the influence of thermals. Attention is devoted to the interrelationship between predicted boundary-layer growth, the turbulent diffusivity profile, countergradient heat flux and truncation errors.The model predicts growth of the convectively mixed layer reasonably well and is well-behaved in cases of weak surface heat flux and transitions between stable and unstable cases. The evolution of the modelled boundary layer is studied for different ratios of surface evaporation to potential evaporation. Typical variations of surface evaporation result in a much greater variation in boundary-layer depth than that caused by the choice of the boundary-layer depth formulation.     

Climate drift in an ocean model coupled to a simple,perfectly matched atmosphere

A very simple, diffusive energy balance atmosphere is coupled to the GFDL ocean circulation model. This provides a useful tool for analyzing climate drift in the ocean model after coupling, and may be used to assess various schemes for minimizing such drift. In the experiment reported here, the atmosphere is constructed in such a way that it provides the ocean model at the moment of coupling with the same fluxes as during spinup. The experiment is therefore equivalent to coupling a perfectly flux-corrected atmosphere model, and is used to investigate the response of the ocean model under these conditions. In spite of the steady, passive, flux-corrected atmosphere, the ocean model drifts to a new equilibrium state after coupling. The transition takes about 2000 years; the new state is characterized by different sites of deep convection and resulting changes in high-latitude SST and global deep temperatures. The mechanism for the transition is an instability of the oceanic convection patterns under the new feedback, felt after coupling. A similar state transition of the ocean model may be triggered by the coupling shock in fully coupled GCMs. If this is so, the transition would contaminate the results of climate scenario experiments, and it would explain part of the residual drift observed in coupled models in spite of the use of flux corrections.