Title: 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 » and are available in CESM2.« less

Authors:

Gettelman, A.  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Gettelman, A."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-8284-2599"

Callaghan, P. ^[1]; Larson, V. E.  ^[2];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Larson, V. E."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-0586-8525"

Zarzycki, C. M.  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Zarzycki, C. M."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-5731-042X"

Bacmeister, J. T. ^[1]; Lauritzen, P. H.  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Lauritzen, P. H."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-7066-138X"

Bogenschutz, P. A. ^[3]; Neale, R. B.  ^[1]

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Neale, R. B."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-4222-3918"

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder CO USA
2. University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Milwaukee WI USA
3. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder CO USA, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore CA USA

Publication Date:

Sun Jun 10 00:00:00 EDT 2018

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