Subtropical Eastern North Pacific SST Bias in Earth System Models
Abstract
This study systematically evaluates the warm sea surface temperature (SST) bias in the Subtropical Eastern North Pacific, a problem plaguing most Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 models, using the Energy Exascale Earth System Model version 1 (E3SM). In the model at its standard resolution (1° atmosphere, 30–60 km ocean), the SST bias, exceeding several degrees, is mainly concentrated along the coast between 25°N and 40°N. In the high-resolution (0.25° atmosphere, 18–6 km ocean) version of the model, the nearshore SST bias improves considerably with a better representation of coastal upwelling. However, the offshore SST bias, approximately centered at 125°W and 25°N, is relatively stronger in the high-resolution version. To better understand the offshore warm bias in the model, a mixed-layer heat budget analysis is performed. While errors in surface radiative fluxes occur at both resolutions, positive biases in horizontal heat advection also play a role in the SST bias at high-resolution. Analysis of HighResMIP models indicates that the shift in the location of the prominent SST bias from nearshore to offshore with an increase in model spatial resolution, is not native to E3SM alone.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[2];
[1];
[2]
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC). Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1823753
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-21-22104
Journal ID: ISSN 2169-9275
- Grant/Contract Number:
- 89233218CNA000001; AC05-76RL01830
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 126; Journal Issue: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 2169-9275
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical Union
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; CMIP6; coupled climate models; Eastern Pacific; large-scale circulation; mixed-layer heat budget; SST biases
Citation Formats
Balaguru, Karthik, Van Roekel, Luke P., Leung, L. Ruby, and Veneziani, Milena. Subtropical Eastern North Pacific SST Bias in Earth System Models. United States: N. p., 2021.
Web. doi:10.1029/2021jc017359.
Balaguru, Karthik, Van Roekel, Luke P., Leung, L. Ruby, & Veneziani, Milena. Subtropical Eastern North Pacific SST Bias in Earth System Models. United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021jc017359
Balaguru, Karthik, Van Roekel, Luke P., Leung, L. Ruby, and Veneziani, Milena. Wed .
"Subtropical Eastern North Pacific SST Bias in Earth System Models". United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021jc017359. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1823753.
@article{osti_1823753,
title = {Subtropical Eastern North Pacific SST Bias in Earth System Models},
author = {Balaguru, Karthik and Van Roekel, Luke P. and Leung, L. Ruby and Veneziani, Milena},
abstractNote = {This study systematically evaluates the warm sea surface temperature (SST) bias in the Subtropical Eastern North Pacific, a problem plaguing most Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 models, using the Energy Exascale Earth System Model version 1 (E3SM). In the model at its standard resolution (1° atmosphere, 30–60 km ocean), the SST bias, exceeding several degrees, is mainly concentrated along the coast between 25°N and 40°N. In the high-resolution (0.25° atmosphere, 18–6 km ocean) version of the model, the nearshore SST bias improves considerably with a better representation of coastal upwelling. However, the offshore SST bias, approximately centered at 125°W and 25°N, is relatively stronger in the high-resolution version. To better understand the offshore warm bias in the model, a mixed-layer heat budget analysis is performed. While errors in surface radiative fluxes occur at both resolutions, positive biases in horizontal heat advection also play a role in the SST bias at high-resolution. Analysis of HighResMIP models indicates that the shift in the location of the prominent SST bias from nearshore to offshore with an increase in model spatial resolution, is not native to E3SM alone.},
doi = {10.1029/2021jc017359},
journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans},
number = 8,
volume = 126,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jul 28 00:00:00 EDT 2021},
month = {Wed Jul 28 00:00:00 EDT 2021}
}
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
Other availability
Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.
Works referenced in this record:
The Seasonal Cycle of Wind-Stress Curl in Subtropical Eastern Boundary Current Regions
journal, December 1991
- Bakun, Andrew; Nelson, Craig S.
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 21, Issue 12
The barrier layer of the Atlantic warmpool: formation mechanism and influence on the mean climate
journal, February 2012
- Balaguru, K.; Chang, P.; Saravanan, R.
- Tellus A: Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography, Vol. 64, Issue 1
The ECMWF operational ensemble reanalysis–analysis system for ocean and sea ice: a description of the system and assessment
journal, January 2019
- Zuo, Hao; Balmaseda, Magdalena Alonso; Tietsche, Steffen
- Ocean Science, Vol. 15, Issue 3
Challenges and Prospects for Reducing Coupled Climate Model SST Biases in the Eastern Tropical Atlantic and Pacific Oceans: The U.S. CLIVAR Eastern Tropical Oceans Synthesis Working Group
journal, December 2016
- Zuidema, Paquita; Chang, Ping; Medeiros, Brian
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 97, Issue 12
The Argo Program: Observing the Global Oceans with Profiling Floats
journal, June 2009
- Roemmich, Dean; Johnson, Gregory; Riser, Stephen
- Oceanography, Vol. 22, Issue 2
The DOE E3SM Coupled Model Version 1: Overview and Evaluation at Standard Resolution
journal, July 2019
- Golaz, Jean‐Christophe; Caldwell, Peter M.; Van Roekel, Luke P.
- Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol. 11, Issue 7
Diagnosing southeast tropical Atlantic SST and ocean circulation biases in the CMIP5 ensemble
journal, July 2014
- Xu, Zhao; Chang, Ping; Richter, Ingo
- Climate Dynamics, Vol. 43, Issue 11
Objectively Analyzed Air–Sea Heat Fluxes for the Global Ice-Free Oceans (1981–2005)
journal, April 2007
- Yu, Lisan; Weller, Robert A.
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 88, Issue 4
Monitoring Ocean Currents with Satellite Sensors
journal, December 2010
- Dohan, Kathleen; Maximenko, Nikolai
- Oceanography, Vol. 23, Issue 4
Convective Boundary Layer Control of the Sea Surface Temperature in the Tropics
journal, May 2020
- Hourdin, Frédéric; Rio, Catherine; Jam, Arnaud
- Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol. 12, Issue 6
The ERA5 global reanalysis
journal, June 2020
- Hersbach, Hans; Bell, Bill; Berrisford, Paul
- Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 146, Issue 730
Climate model biases in the eastern tropical oceans: causes, impacts and ways forward: Climate model biases in the eastern tropical oceans
journal, March 2015
- Richter, Ingo
- Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, Vol. 6, Issue 3
On the origin of equatorial Atlantic biases in coupled general circulation models
journal, January 2008
- Richter, Ingo; Xie, Shang-Ping
- Climate Dynamics, Vol. 31, Issue 5
An Overview of the Atmospheric Component of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model
journal, August 2019
- Rasch, P. J.; Xie, S.; Ma, P. ‐L.
- Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol. 11, Issue 8
Attribution and Impacts of Upper-Ocean Biases in CCSM3
journal, June 2006
- Large, W. G.; Danabasoglu, G.
- Journal of Climate, Vol. 19, Issue 11
Under Pressure: Climate Change, Upwelling, and Eastern Boundary Upwelling Ecosystems
journal, December 2015
- García-Reyes, Marisol; Sydeman, William J.; Schoeman, David S.
- Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol. 2
An Evaluation of the Ocean and Sea Ice Climate of E3SM Using MPAS and Interannual CORE‐II Forcing
journal, May 2019
- Petersen, Mark R.; Asay‐Davis, Xylar S.; Berres, Anne S.
- Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol. 11, Issue 5
The DOE E3SM Coupled Model Version 1: Description and Results at High Resolution
journal, December 2019
- Caldwell, Peter M.; Mametjanov, Azamat; Tang, Qi
- Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol. 11, Issue 12
A comparison of Eastern Boundary Upwelling Ecosystems
journal, December 2009
- Chavez, Francisco P.; Messié, Monique
- Progress in Oceanography, Vol. 83, Issue 1-4
Fast SST error growth in the southeast Pacific Ocean: comparison between high and low-resolution CCSM4 retrospective forecasts
journal, June 2019
- da Silveira, Isabel Porto; Zuidema, Paquita; Kirtman, Benjamin Paul
- Climate Dynamics, Vol. 53, Issue 9-10
Tropical Biases in CMIP5 Multimodel Ensemble: The Excessive Equatorial Pacific Cold Tongue and Double ITCZ Problems
journal, February 2014
- Li, Gen; Xie, Shang-Ping
- Journal of Climate, Vol. 27, Issue 4
Upper-Ocean Processes under the Stratus Cloud Deck in the Southeast Pacific Ocean
journal, January 2010
- Zheng, Yangxing; Kiladis, George N.; Shinoda, Toshiaki
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 40, Issue 1
Improvements in a half degree atmosphere/land version of the CCSM
journal, July 2009
- Gent, Peter R.; Yeager, Stephen G.; Neale, Richard B.
- Climate Dynamics, Vol. 34, Issue 6
Toward Optimal Closure of the Earth's Top-of-Atmosphere Radiation Budget
journal, February 2009
- Loeb, Norman G.; Wielicki, Bruce A.; Doelling, David R.
- Journal of Climate, Vol. 22, Issue 3
An Improved In Situ and Satellite SST Analysis for Climate
journal, July 2002
- Reynolds, Richard W.; Rayner, Nick A.; Smith, Thomas M.
- Journal of Climate, Vol. 15, Issue 13
A New Solar Radiation Penetration Scheme for Use in Ocean Mixed Layer Studies: An Application to the Black Sea Using a Fine-Resolution Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM)*
journal, January 2005
- Kara, A. Birol; Wallcraft, Alan J.; Hurlburt, Harley E.
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 35, Issue 1
Peruvian Stratus Clouds and the Tropical Pacific Circulation: A Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere GCM Study
journal, July 1996
- Ma, Chung-Chun; Mechoso, Carlos R.; Robertson, Andrew W.
- Journal of Climate, Vol. 9, Issue 7
An improved hindcast approach for evaluation and diagnosis of physical processes in global climate models: AN IMPROVED HINDCAST APPROACH
journal, November 2015
- Ma, H. -Y.; Chuang, C. C.; Klein, S. A.
- Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol. 7, Issue 4
The Benguela Upwelling System: Quantifying the Sensitivity to Resolution and Coastal Wind Representation in a Global Climate Model
journal, December 2015
- Small, R. Justin; Curchitser, Enrique; Hedstrom, Katherine
- Journal of Climate, Vol. 28, Issue 23
Upper-ocean heat budget and ocean eddy transport in the south-east Pacific in a high-resolution coupled model
journal, November 2009
- Toniazzo, Thomas; Mechoso, Carlos R.; Shaffrey, Leonard C.
- Climate Dynamics, Vol. 35, Issue 7-8
Historical greenhouse gas concentrations for climate modelling (CMIP6)
journal, January 2017
- Meinshausen, Malte; Vogel, Elisabeth; Nauels, Alexander
- Geoscientific Model Development, Vol. 10, Issue 5
Influence of SST biases on future climate change projections
journal, July 2010
- Ashfaq, Moetasim; Skinner, Christopher B.; Diffenbaugh, Noah S.
- Climate Dynamics, Vol. 36, Issue 7-8
The circulation of the eastern tropical Pacific: A review
journal, May 2006
- Kessler, William S.
- Progress in Oceanography, Vol. 69, Issue 2-4
Alleviating tropical Atlantic sector biases in the Kiel climate model by enhancing horizontal and vertical atmosphere model resolution: climatology and interannual variability
journal, June 2017
- Harlaß, Jan; Latif, Mojib; Park, Wonsun
- Climate Dynamics, Vol. 50, Issue 7-8
An Introduction to the E3SM Special Collection: Goals, Science Drivers, Development, and Analysis
journal, November 2020
- Leung, L. Ruby; Bader, David C.; Taylor, Mark A.
- Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol. 12, Issue 11
Some sensitivities of a coupled ocean-atmosphere GCM
journal, August 1994
- Stockdale, T.; Latif, M.; Burgers, G.
- Tellus A, Vol. 46, Issue 4
Warm bias of sea surface temperature in Eastern boundary current regions—a study of effects of horizontal resolution in CESM
journal, July 2019
- Ma, Jialiang; Xu, Shiming; Wang, Bin
- Ocean Dynamics, Vol. 69, Issue 8
Sea Surface Temperature Biases under the Stratus Cloud Deck in the Southeast Pacific Ocean in 19 IPCC AR4 Coupled General Circulation Models
journal, August 2011
- Zheng, Yangxing; Shinoda, Toshiaki; Lin, Jia-Lin
- Journal of Climate, Vol. 24, Issue 15
A Regional Ocean–Atmosphere Model for Eastern Pacific Climate: Toward Reducing Tropical Biases*
journal, April 2007
- Xie, Shang-Ping; Miyama, Toru; Wang, Yuqing
- Journal of Climate, Vol. 20, Issue 8
Seasonal Modulation of Eddy Kinetic Energy and Its Formation Mechanism in the Southeast Indian Ocean
journal, April 2011
- Jia, Fan; Wu, Lixin; Qiu, Bo
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 41, Issue 4
JRA-55 based surface dataset for driving ocean–sea-ice models (JRA55-do)
journal, October 2018
- Tsujino, Hiroyuki; Urakawa, Shogo; Nakano, Hideyuki
- Ocean Modelling, Vol. 130
Oceanic origin of southeast tropical Atlantic biases
journal, August 2013
- Xu, Zhao; Li, Mingkui; Patricola, Christina M.
- Climate Dynamics, Vol. 43, Issue 11
An Enhanced PIRATA Dataset for Tropical Atlantic Ocean–Atmosphere Research
journal, February 2018
- Foltz, Gregory R.; Schmid, Claudia; Lumpkin, Rick
- Journal of Climate, Vol. 31, Issue 4
Patterns and processes in the California Current System
journal, December 2009
- Checkley, David M.; Barth, John A.
- Progress in Oceanography, Vol. 83, Issue 1-4
High Resolution Model Intercomparison Project (HighResMIP v1.0) for CMIP6
journal, January 2016
- Haarsma, Reindert J.; Roberts, Malcolm J.; Vidale, Pier Luigi
- Geoscientific Model Development, Vol. 9, Issue 11
Argo float data and metadata from Global Data Assembly Centre (Argo GDAC)
dataset, January 2018
- Fumihiko, Akazawa; Turki, Alraddadi; Pascual, Ananda
Argo float data and metadata from Global Data Assembly Centre (Argo GDAC)
dataset, January 2018
- Fumihiko, Akazawa; Turki, Alraddadi; Pascual, Ananda