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

Title: The Connected Isotopic Water Cycle in the Community Earth System Model Version 1

Abstract

Abstract Because of the pervasive role of water in the Earth system, the relative abundances of stable isotopologues of water are valuable for understanding atmospheric, oceanic, and biospheric processes, and for interpreting paleoclimate proxy reconstructions. Isotopologues are transported by both large‐scale and turbulent flows, and the ratio of heavy to light isotopologues changes due to fractionation that can accompany condensation and evaporation processes. Correctly predicting the isotopic distributions requires resolving the relationships between large‐scale ocean and atmospheric circulation and smaller‐scale hydrological processes, which can be accomplished within a coupled climate modeling framework. Here we present the water isotope‐enabled version of the Community Earth System Model version 1 (iCESM1), which simulates global variations in water isotopic ratios in the atmosphere, land, ocean, and sea ice. In a transient Last Millennium simulation covering the 850–2005 period, iCESM1 correctly captures the late‐twentieth‐century structure of δ 18 O and δD over the global oceans, with more limited accuracy over land. The relationship between salinity and seawater δ 18 O is also well represented over the observational period, including interbasin variations. We illustrate the utility of coupled, isotope‐enabled simulations using both Last Millennium simulations and freshwater hosing experiments with iCESM1. Closing the isotopic mass balancemore » between all components of the coupled model provides new confidence in the underlying depiction of the water cycle in CESM, while also highlighting areas where the underlying hydrologic balance can be improved. The iCESM1 is poised to be a vital community resource for ongoing model development with both modern and paleoclimate applications.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [1];  [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [6];  [1]; ORCiD logo [7]; ORCiD logo [8]; ORCiD logo [9]
  1. Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
  2. Bren School of Environmental Science &, Management University of California Santa Barbara CA USA
  3. Department of Geography The Ohio State University Columbus OH USA
  4. College of Earth, Ocean, &, Atmospheric Sciences Oregon State University Corvallis OR USA
  5. NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Center for Climate Systems Research Columbia University New York NY USA
  6. Department of Geosciences University of Connecticut Storrs CT USA
  7. Department of Computer Science University of Colorado Boulder Boulder CO USA
  8. Center for Nonlinear Studies Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos NM USA
  9. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI USA
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC). Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
OSTI Identifier:
1567945
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1566119; OSTI ID: 1567950
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-19-28472
Journal ID: ISSN 1942-2466
Grant/Contract Number:  
89233218CNA000001
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Published Article
Journal Name:
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems Journal Volume: 11 Journal Issue: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 1942-2466
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Earth Sciences

Citation Formats

Brady, E., Stevenson, S., Bailey, D., Liu, Z., Noone, D., Nusbaumer, J., Otto‐Bliesner, B. L., Tabor, C., Tomas, R., Wong, T., Zhang, J., and Zhu, J. The Connected Isotopic Water Cycle in the Community Earth System Model Version 1. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1029/2019MS001663.
Brady, E., Stevenson, S., Bailey, D., Liu, Z., Noone, D., Nusbaumer, J., Otto‐Bliesner, B. L., Tabor, C., Tomas, R., Wong, T., Zhang, J., & Zhu, J. The Connected Isotopic Water Cycle in the Community Earth System Model Version 1. United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019MS001663
Brady, E., Stevenson, S., Bailey, D., Liu, Z., Noone, D., Nusbaumer, J., Otto‐Bliesner, B. L., Tabor, C., Tomas, R., Wong, T., Zhang, J., and Zhu, J. 2019. "The Connected Isotopic Water Cycle in the Community Earth System Model Version 1". United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019MS001663.
@article{osti_1567945,
title = {The Connected Isotopic Water Cycle in the Community Earth System Model Version 1},
author = {Brady, E. and Stevenson, S. and Bailey, D. and Liu, Z. and Noone, D. and Nusbaumer, J. and Otto‐Bliesner, B. L. and Tabor, C. and Tomas, R. and Wong, T. and Zhang, J. and Zhu, J.},
abstractNote = {Abstract Because of the pervasive role of water in the Earth system, the relative abundances of stable isotopologues of water are valuable for understanding atmospheric, oceanic, and biospheric processes, and for interpreting paleoclimate proxy reconstructions. Isotopologues are transported by both large‐scale and turbulent flows, and the ratio of heavy to light isotopologues changes due to fractionation that can accompany condensation and evaporation processes. Correctly predicting the isotopic distributions requires resolving the relationships between large‐scale ocean and atmospheric circulation and smaller‐scale hydrological processes, which can be accomplished within a coupled climate modeling framework. Here we present the water isotope‐enabled version of the Community Earth System Model version 1 (iCESM1), which simulates global variations in water isotopic ratios in the atmosphere, land, ocean, and sea ice. In a transient Last Millennium simulation covering the 850–2005 period, iCESM1 correctly captures the late‐twentieth‐century structure of δ 18 O and δD over the global oceans, with more limited accuracy over land. The relationship between salinity and seawater δ 18 O is also well represented over the observational period, including interbasin variations. We illustrate the utility of coupled, isotope‐enabled simulations using both Last Millennium simulations and freshwater hosing experiments with iCESM1. Closing the isotopic mass balance between all components of the coupled model provides new confidence in the underlying depiction of the water cycle in CESM, while also highlighting areas where the underlying hydrologic balance can be improved. The iCESM1 is poised to be a vital community resource for ongoing model development with both modern and paleoclimate applications.},
doi = {10.1029/2019MS001663},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1567945}, journal = {Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems},
issn = {1942-2466},
number = 8,
volume = 11,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Aug 07 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Wed Aug 07 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record at https://doi.org/10.1029/2019MS001663

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 81 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Figures / Tables:

Figure 1 Figure 1: A schematic of iCESM1 showing the five major model components (iCAM, iCLM, iRTM, iPOP, and iCICE) and all of the major intercomponent fluxes that impact water isotopes. It should be noted that although some of these fluxes are only shown once, they occur for multiple components (e.g., dew/frostmore » can occur between iCAM and iCLM, iPOP, and iCICE).« less

Save / Share:

Works referenced in this record:

Impact of Convective Activity on Precipitation δ 18 O in Isotope‐Enabled General Circulation Models
journal, December 2018


On the Interpretation of the ENSO Signal Embedded in the Stable Isotopic Composition of Quelccaya Ice Cap, Peru
journal, January 2019


The CCSM4 Ocean Component
journal, March 2012


On modelling present-day and last glacial maximum oceanic δ18O distributions
journal, April 2002


Forced changes to twentieth century ENSO diversity in a last Millennium context
journal, March 2017


Evolution and forcing mechanisms of El Niño over the past 21,000 years
journal, November 2014


Climate Variability and Change since 850 CE: An Ensemble Approach with the Community Earth System Model
journal, May 2016


Diurnal to interannual rainfall δ18O variations in northern Borneo driven by regional hydrology
journal, May 2013


Global climatic interpretation of the deuterium-oxygen 18 relationship for precipitation
journal, January 1979


Comparison of precipitation isotope variability across the tropical Pacific in observations and SWING2 model simulations: TROPICAL PACIFIC PRECIPITATION ISOTOPES
journal, June 2013


Highly Variable El Niño–Southern Oscillation Throughout the Holocene
journal, January 2013


Correlations between climate records from North Atlantic sediments and Greenland ice
journal, September 1993


Numerical Evaluation of the Modern and Future Origins of Atmospheric River Moisture Over the West Coast of the United States
journal, June 2018


Interpreting Precession-Driven δ 18 O Variability in the South Asian Monsoon Region
journal, June 2018


Future changes of El Niño in two global coupled climate models
journal, January 2006


Stable water isotopes in HadCM3: Isotopic signature of El Niño–Southern Oscillation and the tropical amount effect
journal, January 2009


Carbon isotopes in the ocean model of the Community Earth System Model (CESM1)
journal, January 2015


Oxygen-18 variations in a global ocean model
journal, April 1998


Variation of O18 content of waters from natural sources
journal, November 1953


Greater aerial moisture transport distances with warming amplify interbasin salinity contrasts: ATLANTIC-PACIFIC SALINITY CONTRAST
journal, August 2016


Asynchronous warming and δ 18 O evolution of deep Atlantic water masses during the last deglaciation
journal, October 2017


Global gridded data set of the oxygen isotopic composition in seawater
journal, January 2006


Climate and atmospheric history of the past 420,000 years from the Vostok ice core, Antarctica
journal, June 1999


Evaluating hydrological processes in the C ommunity A tmosphere M odel V ersion 5 ( C AM5) using stable isotope ratios of water
journal, April 2017


Simulation of stable water isotope variations by the GENESIS GCM for modern conditions
journal, January 2002


Measured HDO/H 2 O ratios across the tropical tropopause : HDO/H
journal, April 2003


Transformation of ENSO-related rainwater to dripwater δ 18 O variability by vadose water mixing : ENSO variability in dripwater d18O
journal, November 2014


The role of soil processes in δ 18 O terrestrial climate proxies
journal, March 2014


Proportions of convective and stratiform precipitation revealed in water isotope ratios
journal, June 2016


Ensemble, water isotope-enabled, coupled general circulation modeling insights into the 8.2 ka event: ENSEMBLE,
journal, July 2008


Evidence for general instability of past climate from a 250-kyr ice-core record
journal, July 1993


Deuterium and oxygen 18 in precipitation: Modeling of the isotopic effects during snow formation
journal, January 1984


Clustering mesoscale convective systems with laser-based water vapor δ 18 O monitoring in Niamey (Niger)
journal, May 2014


SPEEDY-IER: A fast atmospheric GCM with water isotope physics
journal, January 2015


The Community Climate System Model Version 4
journal, October 2011


Fractionnement en 180 entre la glace et la vapeur d’eau
journal, January 1971


Constraints on the salinity–oxygen isotope relationship in the central tropical Pacific Ocean
journal, April 2014


El Niño/Southern Oscillation and tropical Pacific climate during the last millennium
journal, July 2003


Thickness sensitivities in the CICE sea ice model
journal, January 2010


Oxygen 18–salinity relationship simulated by an oceanic general circulation model
journal, May 2000


Chinese cave records and the East Asia Summer Monsoon
journal, January 2014


WRF with Water Vapor Tracers: A Study of Moisture Sources for the North American Monsoon
journal, July 2016


Stable isotopes in atmospheric water vapor and applications to the hydrologic cycle: ISOTOPES IN THE ATMOSPHERIC WATER CYCLE
journal, November 2016


Orbital modulation of ENSO seasonal phase locking
journal, August 2018


The response of ENSO flavors to mid-Holocene climate: Implications for proxy interpretation: ENSO FLAVORS IN THE MID-HOLOCENE
journal, May 2015


Six-year record of oxygen and hydrogen isotope variations in South Pole firn
journal, April 1965


LGM hosing approach to Heinrich Event 1: results and perspectives from data–model integration using water isotopes
journal, December 2014


Water isotope expressions of intrinsic and forced variability in a coupled ocean-atmosphere model: WATER ISOTOPE EXPRESSIONS OF VARIABILITY
journal, May 2007


On the vertical distribution of local and remote sources of water for precipitation
journal, June 2002


Tracking the Strength of the Walker Circulation with Stable Isotopes in Water Vapor: Water Isotopes in Vapor and Global Warming
journal, June 2018


Transient Simulation of Last Deglaciation with a New Mechanism for Bolling-Allerod Warming
journal, July 2009


Evaluation of modeled land‐atmosphere exchanges with a comprehensive water isotope fractionation scheme in version 4 of the C ommunity L and M odel
journal, April 2017


The moisture source sequence for the Madden-Julian Oscillation as derived from satellite retrievals of HDO and H 2 O : MOISTURE SOURCES OF THE MJO
journal, February 2012


Sources of water vapour contributing to the Elbe flood in August 2002-A tagging study in a mesoscale model
journal, January 2009


Comparison of observed and simulated tropical climate trends using a forward model of coralδ18O
journal, July 2011


Annular variations in moisture transport mechanisms and the abundance of δ 18 O in Antarctic snow
journal, January 2002


Water isotope module of the ECHAM atmospheric general circulation model: A study on timescales from days to several years
journal, July 1998


The Community Earth System Model: A Framework for Collaborative Research
journal, September 2013


Applications of proxy system modeling in high resolution paleoclimatology
journal, September 2013


An oxygen isotope data set for marine waters
journal, April 2000


Global sources of local precipitation as determined by the Nasa/Giss GCM
journal, February 1986


Intensification of southwestern Indonesian rainfall over the past millennium: INDONESIAN RAINFALL OVER THE PAST 1 kyr
journal, January 2013


Modeling atmospheric stable water isotopes and the potential for constraining cloud processes and stratosphere-troposphere water exchange
journal, January 2005


Stable isotopes in precipitation
journal, November 1964


Stable water isotopes in the ECHAM5 general circulation model: Toward high-resolution isotope modeling on a global scale
journal, January 2011


ENSO representation in climate models: from CMIP3 to CMIP5
journal, April 2013


Influence of volcanic eruptions on the climate of the Asian monsoon region: VOLCANOES AND THE ASIAN MONSOON
journal, November 2010


Water vapour source impacts on oxygen isotope variability in tropical precipitation during Heinrich events
journal, January 2010


Influences of the hydrological cycle on observed interannual variations in atmospheric CO 18 O
journal, January 2011


Moisture source temperatures and precipitation δ 18 O-temperature relationships across the United States : MOISTURE SOURCE AND
journal, July 2010


Reduced ENSO variability at the LGM revealed by an isotope-enabled Earth system model: Reduced ENSO at the LGM in iCESM
journal, July 2017


Equilibrium oxygen- and hydrogen-isotope fractionation between ice and water
journal, January 1991


The sensitivity of the climate response to the magnitude and location of freshwater forcing: last glacial maximum experiments
journal, January 2010


Coherent changes of southeastern equatorial and northern African rainfall during the last deglaciation
journal, December 2014


Twentieth Century Seawater δ 1 8 O Dynamics and Implications for Coral‐Based Climate Reconstruction
journal, June 2018


Evaluating climate model performance in the tropics with retrievals of water isotopic composition from Aura TES: GISS MODELE2 AND AURA TES WATER ISOTOPES
journal, August 2014


Volcanic and Solar Forcing of the Tropical Pacific over the Past 1000 Years
journal, February 2005


A general circulation model of water isotope cycles in the atmosphere
journal, September 1984


Isotopic Variations in Meteoric Waters
journal, May 1961


Congo Basin precipitation: Assessing seasonality, regional interactions, and sources of moisture: CONGO BASIN: REGIONAL MOISTURE SOURCES
journal, July 2017


Equilibrium and nonequilibrium oxygen isotope effects in synthetic carbonates
journal, August 1997