Regional Climate Simulations With the Community Earth System Model
Abstract
The spectral element (SE) variable-resolution (VR) mesh dynamical core is tested in developmental versions of the Community Earth System Model version 2 (CESM2). The SE dynamical core is tested in baroclinic wave, aquaplanet and full physics configurations to evaluate variable-resolution simulations against uniform high and uniform low-resolution simulations. Different physical parameterization suites are also evaluated to gauge their sensitivity to resolution. Dry dynamical core variable-resolution cases compare well to high-resolution tests. More recent versions of the atmospheric physics, including cloud schemes for CESM2, are less sensitive to changes in horizontal resolution. Most of the sensitivity is due to sensitivity to time step and interactions between deep convection and large-scale condensation, which is expected from the closure methods. The resulting full physics SE-VR model produces a similar climate to the global lowresolution mesh and similar high-frequency statistics in the high-resolution region. The SE-VR simulations are able to reproduce uniform high-resolution results, making them an effective tool for regional climate simulations at lower computational cost. Some biases are reduced (orographic precipitation in Western United States), but biases do not necessarily go away at high resolution (e.g., summertime surface temperatures). Variable-resolution grids are a viable alternative to traditional nesting for regional climate studiesmore »
- Authors:
-
- National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder CO USA
- University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Milwaukee WI USA
- National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder CO USA, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore CA USA
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1441094
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1441095; OSTI ID: 1513126
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-JRNL-769389
Journal ID: ISSN 1942-2466
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0006702; AC52-07NA27344
- Resource Type:
- 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: 10 Journal Issue: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 1942-2466
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; regional; climate; model
Citation Formats
Gettelman, A., Callaghan, P., Larson, V. E., Zarzycki, C. M., Bacmeister, J. T., Lauritzen, P. H., Bogenschutz, P. A., and Neale, R. B. Regional Climate Simulations With the Community Earth System Model. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1002/2017MS001227.
Gettelman, A., Callaghan, P., Larson, V. E., Zarzycki, C. M., Bacmeister, J. T., Lauritzen, P. H., Bogenschutz, P. A., & Neale, R. B. Regional Climate Simulations With the Community Earth System Model. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017MS001227
Gettelman, A., Callaghan, P., Larson, V. E., Zarzycki, C. M., Bacmeister, J. T., Lauritzen, P. H., Bogenschutz, P. A., and Neale, R. B. Sun .
"Regional Climate Simulations With the Community Earth System Model". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017MS001227.
@article{osti_1441094,
title = {Regional Climate Simulations With the Community Earth System Model},
author = {Gettelman, A. and Callaghan, P. and Larson, V. E. and Zarzycki, C. M. and Bacmeister, J. T. and Lauritzen, P. H. and Bogenschutz, P. A. and Neale, R. B.},
abstractNote = {The spectral element (SE) variable-resolution (VR) mesh dynamical core is tested in developmental versions of the Community Earth System Model version 2 (CESM2). The SE dynamical core is tested in baroclinic wave, aquaplanet and full physics configurations to evaluate variable-resolution simulations against uniform high and uniform low-resolution simulations. Different physical parameterization suites are also evaluated to gauge their sensitivity to resolution. Dry dynamical core variable-resolution cases compare well to high-resolution tests. More recent versions of the atmospheric physics, including cloud schemes for CESM2, are less sensitive to changes in horizontal resolution. Most of the sensitivity is due to sensitivity to time step and interactions between deep convection and large-scale condensation, which is expected from the closure methods. The resulting full physics SE-VR model produces a similar climate to the global lowresolution mesh and similar high-frequency statistics in the high-resolution region. The SE-VR simulations are able to reproduce uniform high-resolution results, making them an effective tool for regional climate simulations at lower computational cost. Some biases are reduced (orographic precipitation in Western United States), but biases do not necessarily go away at high resolution (e.g., summertime surface temperatures). Variable-resolution grids are a viable alternative to traditional nesting for regional climate studies and are available in CESM2.},
doi = {10.1002/2017MS001227},
journal = {Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems},
number = 6,
volume = 10,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Jun 10 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Sun Jun 10 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017MS001227
Web of Science
Figures / Tables:
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Figures / Tables found in this record: