Comparison between general circulation model simulation and central equatorial Pacific experiment measurements
- Univ. of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA (United States)
A general circulation model (GCM) is a very powerful tool for understanding many climate issues. However, it must be validated using observational data in order for the model results to be credible in climate prediction. Data from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program will provide a valuable avenue for model validation. Effective use of GCMs can help to understand many important issues, such as the interaction between convection, boundary properties and surface radiative, and sensible and latent heat fluxes. To demonstrate the use of observed data for GCM validation, we compare the GCM simulation of the atmospheric fields with those from the field measurements during the Central Equatorial Pacific EXperiment (CEPEX). The CEPEX field mission was conducted from March 7 to April 6, 1993. Details of the experiment can be found in CEPEX Experiment Design (1993) and the CEPEX Operations Summary (1993). The measurements used in this study were mainly from the R/V Vickers, which cruised during the CEPEX period from about 160E to about 16OW along 2S. Fifty-four soundings (including both Vaisala sondes and frostpoint hygrometer sondes) were launched during the course of the cruise. Surface data from the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean (TAO) moored buoys are also used for comparison. The GCM used for this study is from the Max-Planck Institute and the University of Hamburg, Germany (ECHAM3). The simulation for the CEPEX period starts December 1, 1992. The lower boundary condition is from the interpolation of the monthly mean observed sea surface temperature (SST). The results averaged over the month from March 7 to April 6, 1993, are used for comparison with the field measurements.
- Research Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Research, Washington, DC (United States). Environmental Sciences Div.
- OSTI ID:
- 83215
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-940277-; ON: DE95009951; TRN: 95:003626-0076
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Atmospheric radiation measurement science team meeting, Charleston, SC (United States), 28 Feb - 3 Mar 1994; Other Information: PBD: Apr 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of the Fourth Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Science Team Meeting; PB: 373 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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