scholarly journals Oceanic Forcing of Antarctic Climate Change: A Study Using a Stretched-Grid Atmospheric General Circulation Model

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (15) ◽  
pp. 5786-5800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerhard Krinner ◽  
Chloé Largeron ◽  
Martin Ménégoz ◽  
Cécile Agosta ◽  
Claire Brutel-Vuilmet
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
General Circulation Model ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Atmospheric General Circulation Model ◽  
Surface Condition ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Variable Resolution ◽  
Atmospheric General Circulation ◽  
Simulated Climate

Abstract A variable-resolution atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) is used for climate change projections over the Antarctic. The present-day simulation uses prescribed observed sea surface conditions, while a set of five simulations for the end of the twenty-first century (2070–99) under the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) A1B scenario uses sea surface condition anomalies from selected coupled ocean–atmosphere climate models from phase 3 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP3). Analysis of the results shows that the prescribed sea surface condition anomalies have a very strong influence on the simulated climate change on the Antarctic continent, largely dominating the direct effect of the prescribed greenhouse gas concentration changes in the AGCM simulations. Complementary simulations with idealized forcings confirm these results. An analysis of circulation changes using self-organizing maps shows that the simulated climate change on regional scales is not principally caused by shifts of the frequencies of the dominant circulation patterns, except for precipitation changes in some coastal regions. The study illustrates that in some respects the use of bias-corrected sea surface boundary conditions in climate projections with a variable-resolution atmospheric general circulation model has some distinct advantages over the use of limited-area atmospheric circulation models directly forced by generally biased coupled climate model output.

scholarly journals Climatic stability of the geographic origin of Antarctic precipitation simulated by an atmospheric general circulation model

1999 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 45-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilles Delaygue ◽  
Valérie Masson ◽  
Jean Jouzel
Keyword(s):  
General Circulation Model ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Latitudinal Gradient ◽  
Atmospheric General Circulation Model ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Geographic Origin ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Atmospheric General Circulation ◽  
Antarctic Precipitation

AbstractThe geographic origin of Antarctic precipitation is important for ice-core isotopic interpretation as well as ice-sheet mass-balance calculations. Here we estimate these moisture origins with the NASA/Goddard Institute of Space Studies atmospheric general circulation model, under different climatic conditions. This model reasonably simulates the broad features of the present-day observed hydrological cycle, and indicates a subtropical to subglacial (30-60° S) latitudinal origin for the Antarctic precipitation. We use different climatic reconstructions, all based on CLIMAP, for the Last Glacial Maximum (about 21000 years ago), which differ by the latitudinal sea-surface temperature gradient and seasonality. CLIMAP conditions increase the latitudinal gradient and the sea-ice extent, with the consequence of slightly enhancing the low-latitude origins. Shifting the seasonal cycle of oceanic prescribed conditions has an important effect on the hydrological cycle but less on the precipitation origin. Prescribing cooler tropical sea-surface temperatures, which decreases the latitudinal gradient, makes the latitudinal contributions closer to modern ones and increases the dominant oceanic sources. Globally the origins of Antarctic precipitation do not change significantly, either annually or seasonally.

scholarly journals Development of the GEOS-5 atmospheric general circulation model: evolution from MERRA to MERRA2

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 7575-7617 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Molod ◽  
L. Takacs ◽  
M. Suarez ◽  
J. Bacmeister
Keyword(s):  
General Circulation Model ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Atmospheric General Circulation Model ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Wave Drag ◽  
Atmospheric General Circulation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Simulated Climate ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications-2 (MERRA2) version of the GEOS-5 Atmospheric General Circulation Model (AGCM) is currently in use in the NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) at a wide range of resolutions for a variety of applications. Details of the changes in parameterizations subsequent to the version in the original MERRA reanalysis are presented here. Results of a series of atmosphere-only sensitivity studies are shown to demonstrate changes in simulated climate associated with specific changes in physical parameterizations, and the impact of the newly implemented resolution-aware behavior on simulations at different resolutions is demonstrated. The GEOS-5 AGCM presented here is the model used as part of the GMAO's MERRA2 reanalysis, the global mesoscale "nature run", the real-time numerical weather prediction system, and for atmosphere-only, coupled ocean–atmosphere and coupled atmosphere–chemistry simulations. The seasonal mean climate of the MERRA2 version of the GEOS-5 AGCM represents a substantial improvement over the simulated climate of the MERRA version at all resolutions and for all applications. Fundamental improvements in simulated climate are associated with the increased re-evaporation of frozen precipitation and cloud condensate, resulting in a wetter atmosphere. Improvements in simulated climate are also shown to be attributable to changes in the background gravity wave drag, and to upgrades in the relationship between the ocean surface stress and the ocean roughness. The series of "resolution aware" parameters related to the moist physics were shown to result in improvements at higher resolutions, and result in AGCM simulations that exhibit seamless behavior across different resolutions and applications.

scholarly journals Development of the GEOS-5 atmospheric general circulation model: evolution from MERRA to MERRA2

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 1339-1356 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Molod ◽  
L. Takacs ◽  
M. Suarez ◽  
J. Bacmeister
Keyword(s):  
General Circulation Model ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Atmospheric General Circulation Model ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Wave Drag ◽  
Atmospheric General Circulation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Simulated Climate ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications-2 (MERRA2) version of the Goddard Earth Observing System-5 (GEOS-5) atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) is currently in use in the NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) at a wide range of resolutions for a variety of applications. Details of the changes in parameterizations subsequent to the version in the original MERRA reanalysis are presented here. Results of a series of atmosphere-only sensitivity studies are shown to demonstrate changes in simulated climate associated with specific changes in physical parameterizations, and the impact of the newly implemented resolution-aware behavior on simulations at different resolutions is demonstrated. The GEOS-5 AGCM presented here is the model used as part of the GMAO MERRA2 reanalysis, global mesoscale simulations at 10 km resolution through 1.5 km resolution, the real-time numerical weather prediction system, and for atmosphere-only, coupled ocean-atmosphere and coupled atmosphere-chemistry simulations. The seasonal mean climate of the MERRA2 version of the GEOS-5 AGCM represents a substantial improvement over the simulated climate of the MERRA version at all resolutions and for all applications. Fundamental improvements in simulated climate are associated with the increased re-evaporation of frozen precipitation and cloud condensate, resulting in a wetter atmosphere. Improvements in simulated climate are also shown to be attributable to changes in the background gravity wave drag, and to upgrades in the relationship between the ocean surface stress and the ocean roughness. The series of resolution-aware parameters related to the moist physics was shown to result in improvements at higher resolutions and result in AGCM simulations that exhibit seamless behavior across different resolutions and applications.

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