The GFDL CM3 Coupled Climate Model: Characteristics of the Ocean and Sea Ice Simulations

Citations Over TimeTop 1% of 2011 papers

Abstract

Abstract This paper documents time mean simulation characteristics from the ocean and sea ice components in a new coupled climate model developed at the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL). The GFDL Climate Model version 3 (CM3) is formulated with effectively the same ocean and sea ice components as the earlier CM2.1 yet with extensive developments made to the atmosphere and land model components. Both CM2.1 and CM3 show stable mean climate indices, such as large-scale circulation and sea surface temperatures (SSTs). There are notable improvements in the CM3 climate simulation relative to CM2.1, including a modified SST bias pattern and reduced biases in the Arctic sea ice cover. The authors anticipate SST differences between CM2.1 and CM3 in lower latitudes through analysis of the atmospheric fluxes at the ocean surface in corresponding Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) simulations. In contrast, SST changes in the high latitudes are dominated by ocean and sea ice effects absent in AMIP simulations. The ocean interior simulation in CM3 is generally warmer than in CM2.1, which adversely impacts the interior biases.

Related Papers

• → The Southern Ocean in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5(2014)162 cited
• → Simulation and Projection of the Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode in CMIP5 Models(2013)151 cited
• → Comparison of Monthly Temperature Extremes Simulated by CMIP3 and CMIP5 Models(2013)59 cited
• The Second Phase of the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP2)(2005)
• → ACCESS1-0 model output prepared for CMIP5 historical, served by ESGF(2014)3 cited