Title: Resolving Away Stratocumulus Biases in Modern Global Climate Models

Journal Article · · Geophysical Research Letters
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]
  1. Atmospheric, Earth, and Energy Division Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore CA USA
  2. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences University of Colorado, Boulder Boulder CO USA, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Boulder CO USA
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Abstract Increased horizontal and vertical resolution in global atmospheric models can reduce a significant amount of the biases associated with subtropical marine stratocumulus. The sensitivity of offshore and coastal marine stratocumulus to different horizontal and vertical resolutions has been investigated by using Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) coupled with the novel Framework for Improvement by Vertical Enhancement which has been demonstrated as a viable tool to improve the representation of marine stratocumulus while saving computational cost. Our study shows that high vertical resolution is the key to improve marine stratocumulus simulations in E3SM. Concurrent horizontal and vertical resolution increases are needed for substantial overall reduction of stubborn marine stratocumulus biases over the coastal region but not necessarily in the offshore area.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR). Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344; SC0018650
OSTI ID:
1887929
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL--834023; e2022GL099422
Journal Information:
Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters Journal Issue: 18 Vol. 49; ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES