The Community Earth System Model: A Framework for Collaborative Research

Journal Article · Mon Sep 30 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 94(9):1339-1360

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-12-00121· OSTI ID:1097328

Hurrell, Jim; Holland, Marika M.; Gent, Peter R.; Ghan, Steven J.; Kay, Jennifer; Kushner, P.; Lamarque, J. -F.; Large, William G.; Lawrence, David M.; Lindsay, Keith; Lipscomb, William; Long, Matthew; Mahowald, N.; Marsh, D.; Neale, Richard; Rasch, Philip J.; Vavrus, Steven J.; Vertenstein, Mariana; Bader, David C.; Collins, William D. ; Hack, James; Kiehl, J. T.; Marshall, Shawn

The Community Earth System Model (CESM) is a flexible and extensible community tool used to investigate a diverse set of earth system interactions across multiple time and space scales. This global coupled model is a natural evolution from its predecessor, the Community Climate System Model, following the incorporation of new earth system capabilities. These include the ability to simulate biogeochemical cycles, atmospheric chemistry, ice sheets, and a high-top atmosphere. These and other new model capabilities are enabling investigations into a wide range of pressing scientific questions, providing new predictive capabilities and increasing our collective knowledge about the behavior and interactions of the earth system. Simulations with numerous configurations of the CESM have been provided to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) and are being analyzed by the broader community of scientists. Additionally, the model source code and associated documentation are freely available to the scientific community to use for earth system studies, making it a true community tool. Here we describe this earth modeling system, its various possible configurations, and illustrate its capabilities with a few science highlights.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1097328
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-89381; KP1703020
• Journal Information: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 94(9):1339-1360, Journal Name: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 94(9):1339-1360
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

Community Earth System Model
global coupled model
atmosperic chemistry