skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Impact of Physics Parameterization Ordering in a Global Atmosphere Model

Journal Article · · Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2017MS001067· OSTI ID:1422431
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore CA USA
+ Show Author Affiliations

Abstract Because weather and climate models must capture a wide variety of spatial and temporal scales, they rely heavily on parameterizations of subgrid‐scale processes. The goal of this study is to demonstrate that the assumptions used to couple these parameterizations have an important effect on the climate of version 0 of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) General Circulation Model (GCM), a close relative of version 1 of the Community Earth System Model (CESM1). Like most GCMs, parameterizations in E3SM are sequentially split in the sense that parameterizations are called one after another with each subsequent process feeling the effect of the preceding processes. This coupling strategy is noncommutative in the sense that the order in which processes are called impacts the solution. By examining a suite of 24 simulations with deep convection, shallow convection, macrophysics/microphysics, and radiation parameterizations reordered, process order is shown to have a big impact on predicted climate. In particular, reordering of processes induces differences in net climate feedback that are as big as the intermodel spread in phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. One reason why process ordering has such a large impact is that the effect of each process is influenced by the processes preceding it. Where output is written is therefore an important control on apparent model behavior. Application of k ‐means clustering demonstrates that the positioning of macro/microphysics and shallow convection plays a critical role on the model solution.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1422431
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1425706; OSTI ID: 1432960
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-730895
Journal Information:
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Journal Name: Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems Vol. 10 Journal Issue: 2; ISSN 1942-2466
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 23 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (47)

Some numerical properties of approaches to physics–dynamics coupling for NWP journal January 2006
Higher-Order Turbulence Closure and Its Impact on Climate Simulations in the Community Atmosphere Model journal December 2013
Analysis of Parallel versus Sequential Splittings for Time-Stepping Physical Parameterizations journal January 2004
Estimating Shortwave Radiative Forcing and Response in Climate Models journal June 2007
A New Two-Moment Bulk Stratiform Cloud Microphysics Scheme in the Community Atmosphere Model, Version 3 (CAM3). Part I: Description and Numerical Tests journal August 2008
Contributions of Different Cloud Types to Feedbacks and Rapid Adjustments in CMIP5 journal July 2013
Radiative forcing by long-lived greenhouse gases: Calculations with the AER radiative transfer models journal January 2008
Toward a minimal representation of aerosols in climate models: description and evaluation in the Community Atmosphere Model CAM5 journal January 2012
An Analysis of Operator Splitting Techniques in the Stiff Case journal June 2000
Cloud Feedback Processes in a General Circulation Model journal April 1988
A PDF-Based Model for Boundary Layer Clouds. Part I: Method and Model Description journal December 2002
A Simple Comparison of Four Physics–Dynamics Coupling Schemes journal December 2002
CAM-SE: A scalable spectral element dynamical core for the Community Atmosphere Model journal November 2011
Mixed‐phase cloud physics and Southern Ocean cloud feedback in climate models journal September 2015
Inference of Climate Sensitivity from Analysis of Earth's Energy Budget journal June 2016
Sensitivity of climate simulations to the parameterization of cumulus convection in the Canadian climate centre general circulation model journal September 1995
Inclusion of Ice Microphysics in the NCAR Community Atmospheric Model Version 3 (CAM3) journal September 2007
Intercomparison of model simulations of mixed-phase clouds observed during the ARM Mixed-Phase Arctic Cloud Experiment. I: single-layer cloud
  • Klein, Stephen A.; McCoy, Renata B.; Morrison, Hugh
  • Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 135, Issue 641 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.416
journal April 2009
Mechanisms of Low Cloud–Climate Feedback in Idealized Single-Column Simulations with the Community Atmospheric Model, Version 3 (CAM3) journal September 2008
Adjustments in the Forcing-Feedback Framework for Understanding Climate Change journal February 2015
The Dynamical Core, Physical Parameterizations, and Basic Simulation Characteristics of the Atmospheric Component AM3 of the GFDL Global Coupled Model CM3 journal July 2011
Global simulations of ice nucleation and ice supersaturation with an improved cloud scheme in the Community Atmosphere Model journal January 2010
Numerical Methods for Fluid Dynamics book January 2010
Advanced Two-Moment Bulk Microphysics for Global Models. Part I: Off-Line Tests and Comparison with Other Schemes journal February 2015
Radiative transfer for inhomogeneous atmospheres: RRTM, a validated correlated-k model for the longwave journal July 1997
Cloud optical thickness feedbacks in the CO 2 climate problem journal January 1984
Analysis of the numerics of physics–dynamics coupling journal October 2002
On the numerical stability of surface–atmosphere coupling in weather and climate models journal January 2017
A cloudy planetary boundary layer oscillation arising from the coupling of turbulence with precipitation in climate simulations journal August 2017
Multimodel assessment of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere: Tropics and global trends journal January 2010
Sensitivity of remote aerosol distributions to representation of cloud–aerosol interactions in a global climate model journal January 2013
Effects of Convective Momentum Transport on the Atmospheric Circulation in the Community Atmosphere Model, Version 3 journal April 2008
A parameterization of aerosol activation: 2. Multiple aerosol types journal March 2000
Global-mean radiative feedbacks and forcing in atmosphere-only and coupled atmosphere-ocean climate change experiments journal June 2014
A New Two-Moment Bulk Stratiform Cloud Microphysics Scheme in the Community Atmosphere Model, Version 3 (CAM3). Part II: Single-Column and Global Results journal August 2008
Integrating Cloud Processes in the Community Atmosphere Model, Version 5 journal September 2014
Quantifying the Sources of Intermodel Spread in Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity journal January 2016
The Impact of Convection on ENSO: From a Delayed Oscillator to a Series of Events journal November 2008
Numerical issues associated with compensating and competing processes in climate models: an example from ECHAM-HAM journal January 2013
The effect of time steps and time-scales on parametrization suites journal August 2012
A New Moist Turbulence Parameterization in the Community Atmosphere Model journal June 2009
Mixed Parallel–Sequential-Split Schemes for Time-Stepping Multiple Physical Parameterizations journal April 2005
Evaluation of Climate Models book January 2014
The University of Washington Shallow Convection and Moist Turbulence Schemes and Their Impact on Climate Simulations with the Community Atmosphere Model journal June 2009
Atmospheric component of the MPI-M Earth System Model: ECHAM6: ECHAM6 journal April 2013
Processes controlling Southern Ocean shortwave climate feedbacks in CESM: CESM SOUTHERN OCEAN CLIMATE feedbacks journal January 2014
Intercomparison and interpretation of climate feedback processes in 19 atmospheric general circulation models journal January 1990

Similar Records

Toward Understanding the Simulated Phase Partitioning of Arctic Single-Layer Mixed-Phase Clouds in E3SM
Journal Article · Wed Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Earth and Space Science · OSTI ID:1422431
+5 more
Quantifying and attributing time step sensitivities in present-day climate simulations conducted with EAMv1
Journal Article · Mon Apr 12 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Geoscientific Model Development (Online) · OSTI ID:1422431
+3 more
Understanding changes in cloud simulations from E3SM version 1 to version 2
Journal Article · Wed Jan 10 00:00:00 EST 2024 · Geoscientific Model Development (Online) · OSTI ID:1422431
+8 more

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING