Major conclusions and recommendations regarding the status of global coupled general circulation models are presented here from a workshop convened by the World Climate Research Programme Steering Group on Global Coupled Modelling that was held from 10 to 12 October 1994 at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California. The purpose of the workshop was to assess the current state of the art of global coupled modeling on the decadal and longer timescales in terms of methodology and results to identify the major issues and problems facing this activity and to discuss possible alternatives for making progress in light of these problems. This workshop brought together representatives from nearly every group in the world actively involved in formulating and running such models. After presentations by workshop participants, four working groups identified key issues involving 1) initialization and model spinup, 2) strategies and techniques for coupling of model components, 3) flux correction/adjustment, and 4) secular drift and systematic errors. The participants concluded that improved communication between those engaged in this activity will be important to enhance further progress. Consequently, the World Climate Research Programme intends to continue the support of internationally coordinated activities in global coupled modeling.
*The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.
