scholarly journals High Resolution Model Intercomparison Project (HighResMIP)

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Haarsma ◽  
M. Roberts ◽  
P. L. Vidale ◽  
C. A. Senior ◽  
A. Bellucci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Computational Cost ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Model Intercomparison ◽  
Resolution Model ◽  
Intercomparison Project ◽  
High Resolution Model ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Robust projections and predictions of climate variability and change, particularly at regional scales, rely on the driving processes being represented with fidelity in model simulations. The role of enhanced horizontal resolution in improved process representation in all components of the climate system is of growing interest, particularly as some recent simulations suggest the possibility for significant changes in both large-scale aspects of circulation, as well as improvements in small-scale processes and extremes. However, such high resolution global simulations at climate time scales, with resolutions of at least 50 km in the atmosphere and 0.25° in the ocean, have been performed at relatively few research centers and generally without overall coordination, primarily due to their computational cost. Assessing the robustness of the response of simulated climate to model resolution requires a large multi-model ensemble using a coordinated set of experiments. The Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6) is the ideal framework within which to conduct such a study, due to the strong link to models being developed for the CMIP DECK experiments and other MIPs. Increases in High Performance Computing (HPC) resources, as well as the revised experimental design for CMIP6, now enables a detailed investigation of the impact of increased resolution up to synoptic weather scales on the simulated mean climate and its variability. The High Resolution Model Intercomparison Project (HighResMIP) presented in this paper applies, for the first time, a multi-model approach to the systematic investigation of the impact of horizontal resolution. A coordinated set of experiments has been designed to assess both a standard and an enhanced horizontal resolution simulation in the atmosphere and ocean. The set of HighResMIP experiments is divided into three tiers consisting of atmosphere-only and coupled runs and spanning the period 1950-2050, with the possibility to extend to 2100, together with some additional targeted experiments. This paper describes the experimental set-up of HighResMIP, the analysis plan, the connection with the other CMIP6 endorsed MIPs, as well as the DECK and CMIP6 historical simulation. HighResMIP thereby focuses on one of the CMIP6 broad questions: “what are the origins and consequences of systematic model biases?”, but we also discuss how it addresses the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) grand challenges.

scholarly journals High Resolution Model Intercomparison Project (HighResMIP v1.0) for CMIP6

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 4185-4208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reindert J. Haarsma ◽  
Malcolm J. Roberts ◽  
Pier Luigi Vidale ◽  
Catherine A. Senior ◽  
Alessio Bellucci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Computational Cost ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Model Intercomparison ◽  
Resolution Model ◽  
Intercomparison Project ◽  
High Resolution Model ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Robust projections and predictions of climate variability and change, particularly at regional scales, rely on the driving processes being represented with fidelity in model simulations. The role of enhanced horizontal resolution in improved process representation in all components of the climate system is of growing interest, particularly as some recent simulations suggest both the possibility of significant changes in large-scale aspects of circulation as well as improvements in small-scale processes and extremes. However, such high-resolution global simulations at climate timescales, with resolutions of at least 50 km in the atmosphere and 0.25° in the ocean, have been performed at relatively few research centres and generally without overall coordination, primarily due to their computational cost. Assessing the robustness of the response of simulated climate to model resolution requires a large multi-model ensemble using a coordinated set of experiments. The Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6) is the ideal framework within which to conduct such a study, due to the strong link to models being developed for the CMIP DECK experiments and other model intercomparison projects (MIPs). Increases in high-performance computing (HPC) resources, as well as the revised experimental design for CMIP6, now enable a detailed investigation of the impact of increased resolution up to synoptic weather scales on the simulated mean climate and its variability. The High Resolution Model Intercomparison Project (HighResMIP) presented in this paper applies, for the first time, a multi-model approach to the systematic investigation of the impact of horizontal resolution. A coordinated set of experiments has been designed to assess both a standard and an enhanced horizontal-resolution simulation in the atmosphere and ocean. The set of HighResMIP experiments is divided into three tiers consisting of atmosphere-only and coupled runs and spanning the period 1950–2050, with the possibility of extending to 2100, together with some additional targeted experiments. This paper describes the experimental set-up of HighResMIP, the analysis plan, the connection with the other CMIP6 endorsed MIPs, as well as the DECK and CMIP6 historical simulations. HighResMIP thereby focuses on one of the CMIP6 broad questions, “what are the origins and consequences of systematic model biases?”, but we also discuss how it addresses the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) grand challenges.

scholarly journals Effect of Horizontal Resolution on the Simulation of Tropical Cyclones in the Chinese Academy of Sciences FGOALS-f3 Climate System Model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinxiao Li ◽  
Qing Bao ◽  
Yimin Liu ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Jing Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
System Model ◽  
Climate System Model ◽  
Chinese Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Resolution Model ◽  
Intercomparison Project ◽  
High Resolution Model ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

Abstract. The effects of horizontal resolution on the simulation of tropical cyclones were studied using the Chinese Academy of Sciences FGOALS-f3 climate system model from the High-Resolution Model Intercomparison Project (HighResMIP) for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6). Both the low-resolution (approximately 100 km resolution) FGOALS-f3 model (FGOALS-f3-L) and the high-resolution (approximately 25 km resolution) FGOALS-f3 (FGOALS-f3-H) model were used to achieve the standard Tier1 experiment required by the HighResMIP. FGOALS-f3-L and FGOALS-f3-H have the same model parameterizations with exactly the same parameters. The only differences between the two models are the horizontal resolution and the time step. The performance of FGOALS-f3-H and FGOALS-f3-L in simulating tropical cyclones was evaluated with the observation firstly. FGOALS-f3-H (25 km resolution) simulated more realistic distributions of the formation, movement and intensity of the climatology of tropical cyclones than FGOALS-f3-L at 100 km resolution. The seasonal cycles of the number of tropical cyclones increased by about 50 % at the higher resolution and better matched the observed values in the peak month, especially in the eastern Pacific, northern Atlantic, southern Indian and southern Pacific oceans. The simulated variabilities of the number of tropical cyclones and the accumulated cyclone energy were both significantly improved from FGOALS-f3-L to FGOALS-f3-H over most of the ocean basins on the interannual timescale. The characteristics of the tropical cyclones (e.g., the average lifetime, the wind–pressure relationship and the horizontal structure) were more realistic in the simulation using the high-resolution model. The possible physical linkage between the performance of the tropical cyclone simulation and the horizontal resolution were revealed by further analyses. The improvement in the Madden–Julian oscillation from FGOALS-f3-H contributed to the realistic simulation of tropical cyclones. The genesis potential index and the vorticity, relative humidity, maximum potential intensity and the wind shear terms were used to diagnose the effects of the resolution. The current insufficiencies and future directions of improvement for the simulation of tropical cyclones and the potential applications of the FGOALS-f3-H model in the sub-seasonal to seasonal prediction of tropical cyclones are discussed.

scholarly journals A statistical and process oriented evaluation of cloud radiative effects in high resolution global models

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manu Anna Thomas ◽  
Abhay Devasthale ◽  
Torben Koenigk ◽  
Klaus Wyser ◽  
Malcolm Roberts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Global Climate Model ◽  
Radiant Energy ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Radiative Effects ◽  
Resolution Model ◽  
High Resolution Model ◽  
Cloud Radiative Effects ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. This study evaluates the impact of atmospheric horizontal resolution on the representation of cloud radiative effects (CREs) in an ensemble of global climate model simulations following the protocols of the High Resolution Model Intercomparison Project (HighResMIP). We compare results from four European modelling centres, each of which provides data from "standard" and "high" resolution model configurations. Simulated radiative fluxes are compared with observation-based estimates derived from the Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) dataset. Model CRE biases are evaluated using both conventional statistics (e.g. time and spatial averages) and after conditioning on the phase of two modes of internal climate variability, namely the El Niño and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Simulated top-of-atmosphere (TOA) and surface CREs show large biases over the polar regions, particularly over regions where seasonal sea-ice variability is strongest. Increasing atmospheric resolution does not significantly improve these biases. The spatial structure of the cloud radiative response to ENSO and NAO variability is simulated reasonably well by all model configurations considered in this study. However, it is difficult to identify a systematic impact of atmospheric resolution on the associated CRE errors. Mean absolute CRE errors conditioned on ENSO phase are relatively large (5–10 W/m2) and show differences between models. We suggest this is a consequence of differences in the parameterization of SW radiative transfer and the treatment of cloud optical properties rather than a result of differences in resolution. In contrast, mean absolute CRE errors conditioned on NAO phase are generally smaller (0–2 W/m2) and more similar across models. Although the regional details of CRE biases show some sensitivity to atmospheric resolution within a particular model, it is difficult to identify patterns that hold across all models. This apparent insensitivity to increased atmospheric horizontal resolution indicates that physical parameterizations play a dominant role in determining the behaviour of cloud-radiation feedbacks. However, we note that these results are obtained from atmosphere-only simulations and the impact of changes in atmospheric resolution may be different in the presence of coupled climate feedbacks.

scholarly journals Effect of horizontal resolution on the simulation of tropical cyclones in the Chinese Academy of Sciences FGOALS-f3 climate system model

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 6113-6133
Author(s):  
Jinxiao Li ◽  
Qing Bao ◽  
Yimin Liu ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Jing Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
System Model ◽  
Climate System Model ◽  
Chinese Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Resolution Model ◽  
Intercomparison Project ◽  
High Resolution Model ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

Abstract. The effects of horizontal resolution on the simulation of tropical cyclones were studied using the Chinese Academy of Sciences Flexible Global Ocean–Atmosphere–Land System Finite-Volume version 3 (FGOALS-f3) climate system model from the High-Resolution Model Intercomparison Project (HighResMIP) for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6). Both the low-resolution (about 100 km resolution) FGOALS-f3 model (FGOALS-f3-L) and the high-resolution (about 25 km resolution) FGOALS-f3 (FGOALS-f3-H) models were used to achieve the standard Tier 1 experiment required by HighResMIP. FGOALS-f3-L and FGOALS-f3-H have the same model parameterizations with the exactly the same parameters. The only differences between the two models are the horizontal resolution and the time step. The performance of FGOALS-f3-H and FGOALS-f3-L in simulating tropical cyclones was evaluated using observations. FGOALS-f3-H (25 km resolution) simulated more realistic distributions of the formation, movement and intensity of the climatology of tropical cyclones than FGOALS-f3-L at 100 km resolution. Although the number of tropical cyclones increased by about 50 % at the higher resolution and better matched the observed values in the peak month, both FGOALS-f3-L and FGOALS-f3-H appear to replicate the timing of the seasonal cycle of tropical cyclones. The simulated average and interannual variabilities of the number of tropical cyclones and the accumulated cyclone energy were both significantly improved from FGOALS-f3-L to FGOALS-f3-H over most of the ocean basins. The characteristics of tropical cyclones (e.g., the average lifetime, the wind–pressure relationship and the horizontal structure) were more realistic in the simulation using the high-resolution model. The possible physical linkage between the performance of the tropical cyclone simulation and the horizontal resolution were revealed by further analyses. The improvement in the response between the El Niño–Southern Oscillation and the number of tropical cyclones and the accumulated cyclone energy in FGOALS-f3 contributed to the realistic simulation of tropical cyclones. The genesis potential index and the vorticity, relative humidity, maximum potential intensity and the wind shear terms were used to diagnose the effects of resolution. We discuss the current insufficiencies and future directions of improvement for the simulation of tropical cyclones and the potential applications of the FGOALS-f3-H model in the subseasonal to seasonal prediction of tropical cyclones.

scholarly journals Impact of Higher Resolution on Precipitation over China in CMIP6 HighResMIP Models

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 762
Author(s):  
Xiaoge Xin ◽  
Tongwen Wu ◽  
Weihua Jie ◽  
Jie Zhang
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Southwest China ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Skill Score ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Model Intercomparison ◽  
Intercomparison Project ◽  
The Impact

Climate models participated in the High Resolution Model Intercomparison Project (HighResMIP) of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6) are evaluated to reveal the impact of enhanced resolution in simulating the climatological distribution of precipitation over China. The multi-model mean (MME) of five models with 30–50 km horizontal resolution in the atmosphere (MME-50) had a better performance in reproducing the observed spatial patterns of precipitation over Northwest China and Southwest China than the MME of their lower-resolution (70–140 km) models (MME-100). Such an improvement is mainly attributed to the topographical rainfall reproduced by the higher-resolution models, which have the superiority of reproducing the local vertical circulation over the complex terrain. The MME-50 also improves the skill score of the 850-hPa southwesterly of the Indian-Burma trough relative to the MME-100, which may contribute to better simulation skill of precipitation over Southwest China. The MME-50 (0.92) has a close skill score to the MME-100 (0.91) in the simulation of East Asian summer monsoon, which explains why the MME-50 cannot improve the simulation skill of the precipitation over Southeast China and Northern China. The skill score of the precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) simulated by the MME-50 is even lower than the MME-100, revealing that simulating the climate over the high plateau is still a challenge for the high-resolution models.

scholarly journals A statistical and process-oriented evaluation of cloud radiative effects in high-resolution global models

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1679-1702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manu Anna Thomas ◽  
Abhay Devasthale ◽  
Torben Koenigk ◽  
Klaus Wyser ◽  
Malcolm Roberts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Global Climate Model ◽  
Radiant Energy ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Radiative Effects ◽  
Resolution Model ◽  
High Resolution Model ◽  
Cloud Radiative Effects ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. This study evaluates the impact of atmospheric horizontal resolution on the representation of cloud radiative effects (CREs) in an ensemble of global climate model simulations following the protocols of the High Resolution Model Intercomparison Project (HighResMIP). We compare results from four European modelling centres, each of which provides data from “standard”- and “high”-resolution model configurations. Simulated radiative fluxes are compared with observation-based estimates derived from the Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) dataset. Model CRE biases are evaluated using both conventional statistics (e.g. time and spatial averages) and after conditioning on the phase of two modes of internal climate variability, namely the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Simulated top-of-atmosphere (TOA) and surface CREs show large biases over the polar regions, particularly over regions where seasonal sea-ice variability is strongest. Increasing atmospheric resolution does not significantly improve these biases. The spatial structure of the cloud radiative response to ENSO and NAO variability is simulated reasonably well by all model configurations considered in this study. However, it is difficult to identify a systematic impact of atmospheric resolution on the associated CRE errors. Mean absolute CRE errors conditioned on the ENSO phase are relatively large (5–10 W m−2) and show differences between models. We suggest this is a consequence of differences in the parameterization of SW radiative transfer and the treatment of cloud optical properties rather than a result of differences in resolution. In contrast, mean absolute CRE errors conditioned on the NAO phase are generally smaller (0–2 W m−2) and more similar across models. Although the regional details of CRE biases show some sensitivity to atmospheric resolution within a particular model, it is difficult to identify patterns that hold across all models. This apparent insensitivity to increased atmospheric horizontal resolution indicates that physical parameterizations play a dominant role in determining the behaviour of cloud–radiation feedbacks. However, we note that these results are obtained from atmosphere-only simulations and the impact of changes in atmospheric resolution may be different in the presence of coupled climate feedbacks.

scholarly journals Climate SPHINX: evaluating the impact of resolution and stochastic physics parameterisations in the EC-Earth global climate model

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 1383-1402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Davini ◽  
Jost von Hardenberg ◽  
Susanna Corti ◽  
Hannah M. Christensen ◽  
Stephan Juricke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Rainfall Variability ◽  
Global Climate Model ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Low Resolution ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Stochastic Physics

Abstract. The Climate SPHINX (Stochastic Physics HIgh resolutioN eXperiments) project is a comprehensive set of ensemble simulations aimed at evaluating the sensitivity of present and future climate to model resolution and stochastic parameterisation. The EC-Earth Earth system model is used to explore the impact of stochastic physics in a large ensemble of 30-year climate integrations at five different atmospheric horizontal resolutions (from 125 up to 16 km). The project includes more than 120 simulations in both a historical scenario (1979–2008) and a climate change projection (2039–2068), together with coupled transient runs (1850–2100). A total of 20.4 million core hours have been used, made available from a single year grant from PRACE (the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe), and close to 1.5 PB of output data have been produced on SuperMUC IBM Petascale System at the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ) in Garching, Germany. About 140 TB of post-processed data are stored on the CINECA supercomputing centre archives and are freely accessible to the community thanks to an EUDAT data pilot project. This paper presents the technical and scientific set-up of the experiments, including the details on the forcing used for the simulations performed, defining the SPHINX v1.0 protocol. In addition, an overview of preliminary results is given. An improvement in the simulation of Euro-Atlantic atmospheric blocking following resolution increase is observed. It is also shown that including stochastic parameterisation in the low-resolution runs helps to improve some aspects of the tropical climate – specifically the Madden–Julian Oscillation and the tropical rainfall variability. These findings show the importance of representing the impact of small-scale processes on the large-scale climate variability either explicitly (with high-resolution simulations) or stochastically (in low-resolution simulations).

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