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Title: An ensemble constrained variational analysis of atmospheric forcing data and its application to evaluate clouds in CAM5: Ensemble 3DCVA and Its Application

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD024167· OSTI ID:1241968
 [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States). School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences; Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  2. Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States). School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
  3. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Large-scale atmospheric forcing data can greatly impact the simulations of atmospheric process models including Large Eddy Simulations (LES), Cloud Resolving Models (CRMs) and Single-Column Models (SCMs), and impact the development of physical parameterizations in global climate models. This study describes the development of an ensemble variationally constrained objective analysis of atmospheric large-scale forcing data and its application to evaluate the cloud biases in the Community Atmospheric Model (CAM5). Sensitivities of the variational objective analysis to background data, error covariance matrix and constraint variables are described and used to quantify the uncertainties in the large-scale forcing data. Application of the ensemble forcing in the CAM5 SCM during March 2000 intensive operational period (IOP) at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program shows systematic biases in the model simulations that cannot be explained by the uncertainty of large-scale forcing data, which points to the deficiencies of physical parameterizations. The SCM is shown to overestimate high clouds and underestimate low clouds. These biases are found to also exist in the global simulation of CAM5 when it is compared with satellite data.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1241968
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-676588
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 121, Issue 1; ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 5 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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