Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

CCSM–CAM3 Climate Simulation Sensitivity to Changes in Horizontal Resolution

James J. Hack National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado

Search for other papers by James J. Hack in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
Julie M. Caron National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado

Search for other papers by Julie M. Caron in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
G. Danabasoglu National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado

Search for other papers by G. Danabasoglu in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
Keith W. Oleson National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado

Search for other papers by Keith W. Oleson in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
Cecilia Bitz University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

Search for other papers by Cecilia Bitz in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
, and
John E. Truesdale National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado

Search for other papers by John E. Truesdale in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
Print Publication:
01 Jun 2006
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI3764.1
Page(s):
2267–2289
Restricted access

Abstract

The latest version of the Community Climate System Model (CCSM) Community Atmosphere Model version 3 (CAM3) has been released to allow for numerical integration at a variety of horizontal resolutions. One goal of the CAM3 design was to provide comparable large-scale simulation fidelity over a range of horizontal resolutions through modifications to adjustable coefficients in the parameterized treatment of clouds and precipitation. Coefficients are modified to provide similar cloud radiative forcing characteristics for each resolution. Simulations with the CAM3 show robust systematic improvements with higher horizontal resolution for a variety of features, most notably associated with the large-scale dynamical circulation. This paper will focus on simulation differences between the two principal configurations of the CAM3, which differ by a factor of 2 in their horizontal resolution.

Corresponding author address: Dr. James J. Hack, NCAR, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307. Email: jhack@ncar.ucar.edu

Abstract

The latest version of the Community Climate System Model (CCSM) Community Atmosphere Model version 3 (CAM3) has been released to allow for numerical integration at a variety of horizontal resolutions. One goal of the CAM3 design was to provide comparable large-scale simulation fidelity over a range of horizontal resolutions through modifications to adjustable coefficients in the parameterized treatment of clouds and precipitation. Coefficients are modified to provide similar cloud radiative forcing characteristics for each resolution. Simulations with the CAM3 show robust systematic improvements with higher horizontal resolution for a variety of features, most notably associated with the large-scale dynamical circulation. This paper will focus on simulation differences between the two principal configurations of the CAM3, which differ by a factor of 2 in their horizontal resolution.

Corresponding author address: Dr. James J. Hack, NCAR, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307. Email: jhack@ncar.ucar.edu

Save
Cover Journal of Climate
Journal of Climate

  • Adler, R. F., and Coauthors, 2003: The version-2 Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) monthly precipitation analysis (1979–present). J. Hydrometeor, 4 , 1147–1167.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Boer, G. J., and M. Lazare, 1988: Some results concerning the effect of horizontal resolution and gravity wave drag on simulated climate. J. Climate, 1 , 789–806.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Boville, B. A., 1991: Sensitivity of simulated climate to model resolution. J. Climate, 4 , 469–485.

  • Bryan, F. O., G. Danabasoglu, N. Nakashiki, Y. Yoshida, D-H. Kim, J. Tsutsui, and S. C. Doney, 2006: Response of North Atlantic thermohaline circulation and ventilation to increasing carbon dioxide in CCSM3. J. Climate, 19 , 2382–2397.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Chen, T-C., and J. J. Tribbia, 1993: An effect of the model's horizontal resolution on stationary eddies simulated by the NCAR CCM1. J. Climate, 6 , 1657–1664.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Chin, T. M., R. F. Milliff, and W. G. Large, 1998: Basin-scale, high-wavenumber sea surface wind fields from a multiresolution analysis of scatterometer data. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol, 15 , 741–763.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Collins, W. D., and Coauthors, 2006a: The Community Climate System Model version 3 (CCSM3). J. Climate, 19 , 2122–2143.

  • Collins, W. D., and Coauthors, 2006b: The formulation and atmospheric simulation of the Community Atmosphere Model version 3 (CAM3). J. Climate, 19 , 2144–2161.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Danabasoglu, G., W. G. Large, J. J. Tribbia, P. R. Gent, B. P. Briegleb, and J. C. McWilliams, 2006: Diurnal coupling in the tropical oceans of CCSM3. J. Climate, 19 , 2347–2365.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Davey, M. K., and Coauthors, 2002: STOIC: A study of coupled model climatology and variability in tropical ocean regions. Climate Dyn, 18 , 403–420.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Deser, C., A. Capotondi, R. Saravanan, and A. Phillips, 2006: Tropical Pacific and Atlantic variability in CCSM3. J. Climate, 19 , 2451–2481.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • DeWeaver, E., and C. M. Bitz, 2006: Atmospheric circulation and its effect on Arctic sea ice in CCSM3 simulations at medium and high resolution. J. Climate, 19 , 2415–2432.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Dickinson, R. E., K. W. Oleson, G. Bonan, F. Hoffman, P. Thornton, M. Vertenstein, Z-L. Yang, and X. Zeng, 2006: The Community Land Model and its climate statistics as a component of the Community Climate System Model. J. Climate, 19 , 2302–2324.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Fekete, B., C. Vorosmarty, and W. Grabs, 2002: High-resolution fields of global runoff combining observed river discharge and simulated water balance. Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 16 .1042, doi:10.1029/1999GB001254.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hack, J. J., J. M. Caron, S. G. Yeager, K. W. Oleson, M. M. Holland, J. E. Truesdale, and P. J. Rasch, 2006: Simulation of the global hydrological cycle in the CCSM Community Atmosphere Model version 3 (CAM3): Mean features. J. Climate, 19 , 2199–2221.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hurrell, J. W., J. J. Hack, A. Phillips, J. Caron, and J. Yin, 2006: The dynamical simulation of the Community Atmospheric Model version 3 (CAM3). J. Climate, 19 , 2162–2183.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Johnson, G. C., B. M. Sloyan, W. S. Kessler, and K. E. McTaggart, 2002: Direct measurements of upper ocean currents and water properties across the tropical Pacific Ocean during the 1990s. Progress in Oceanography, Vol. 52, Pergamon, 31–36.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kållberg, P., A. Simmons, S. Uppala, and M. Fuentes, 2004: The ERA-40 archive. Tech. Rep. ERA-40 Project Rep. 17, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Reading, United Kingdom, 35 pp.

  • Kiehl, J. T., 1994: On the observed near cancellation between longwave and shortwave cloud forcing in tropical regions. J. Climate, 7 , 559–565.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kiehl, J. T., and V. Ramanathan, 1990: Comparison of cloud forcing derived from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment with that simulated by the NCAR Community Climate Model. J. Geophys. Res, 95 , 11679–11698.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kiehl, J. T., and D. L. Williamson, 1991: Dependence of cloud amount on horizontal resolution in the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate Model. J. Geophys. Res, 96 , 10955–10980.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kiehl, J. T., and K. E. Trenberth, 1997: Earth's annual global mean energy budget. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc, 78 , 197–208.

  • Kiehl, J. T., C. A. Shields, J. J. Hack, and W. D. Collins, 2006: The climate sensitivity of the Community Climate System Model version 3 (CCSM3). J. Climate, 19 , 2584–2596.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • King, M. D., and Coauthors, 2003: Cloud and aerosol properties, precipitable water, and profiles of temperature and water vapor from MODIS. IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens, 41 , 442–458.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kistler, R., and Coauthors, 2001: The NCEP–NCAR 50-year reanalysis: Monthly means CD-ROM and documentation. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc, 82 , 247–267.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Large, W. G., and G. Danabasoglu, 2006: Attribution and impacts of upper-ocean biases in CCSM3. J. Climate, 19 , 2325–2346.

  • Levitus, S., and Coauthors, 1998: Introduction. Vol. 1, World Ocean Database 1998, NOAA Atlas NESDIS 18, 346 pp.

  • Manabe, S. J., J. L. Smagorinsky, J. Holloway, and H. M. Stone, 1970: Simulated climatology of a general circulation model with a hydrologic cycle: III. Effects of increased horizontal computational resolution. Mon. Wea. Rev, 98 , 175–212.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Manabe, S. J., D. G. Hahm, and J. L. Holloway Jr., 1979: Climate simulations with GFDL spectral models of the atmosphere: Effect of spectral truncation. JOC Study Conf. on Climate Models: Performance, Intercomparison and Sensitivity Studies, Geneva, Switzerland, WMO, Global Atmospheric Research Programme Publication Series 22, Vol. 1, 41–94.

  • Moncrieff, M. W., S. K. Krueger, D. Gregory, J-L. Redelsperger, and W-K. Tao, 1997: GEWEX cloud system study (GCSS) working group 4: Precipitating convective cloud systems. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc, 78 , 831–845.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Oleson, K. W., and Coauthors, 2004: Effects of land use change on North American cilmate: Impact of surface datasets and model biogeophysics. Climate Dyn, 23 , 117–132.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Pope, V. D., and R. A. Stratton, 2002: The processes governing horizontal resolution sensitivity in a climate model. Climate Dyn, 19 , 211–236.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ramanathan, V., and W. Collins, 1991: Thermodynamic regulation of ocean warming by cirrus clouds deduced from observations of the 1987 El Niño. Nature, 351 , 27–32.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Randel, D. L., T. H. Vonder Haar, M. A. Ringerud, G. Stephens, T. J. Greenwald, and C. L. Combs, 1996: A new global water vapor dataset. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc, 77 , 1233–1246.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Rossow, W. B., and R. A. Schiffer, 1999: Advances in understanding clouds from ISCCP. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc, 80 , 2261–2287.

  • Steele, M., R. Morley, and W. Ermold, 2001: PHC: A global ocean hydrography with a high-quality Arctic Ocean. J. Climate, 14 , 2079–2087.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Warren, S. G., C. J. Hahn, J. London, R. M. Chervin, and M. L. Jenne, 1988: Global distribution of total cloud cover and cloud type amounts over the ocean. Tech. Rep. NCAR Tech. Note TN-317+STR, National Center for Atmospheric Research, 42 pp. + 170 maps.

  • Whitworth III, T., 1983: Monitoring the transport of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current at Drake Passage. J. Phys. Oceanogr, 13 , 2045–2057.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Whitworth III, T., and R. G. Peterson, 1985: Volume transport of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current from bottom pressure measurements. J. Phys. Oceanogr, 15 , 810–816.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Williamson, D. L., 1988: The effect of vertical finite difference approximations on simulations with the NCAR Community Climate Model. J. Climate, 1 , 40–58.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Williamson, D. L., J. T. Kiehl, and J. J. Hack, 1995: Climate sensitivity of the NCAR Community Climate Model (CCM2) to horizontal resolution. Climate Dyn, 11 , 377–397.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Willmott, C. J., and K. Matsuura, 2000: Terrestrial air temperature and precipitation: Monthly and annual climatologies. [Available online at http://climate.geog.udel.edu/~climate.].

  • Xie, P., and P. A. Arkin, 1997: Global precipitation: A 17-year monthly analysis based on gauge observations, satellite estimates, and numerical model outputs. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc, 78 , 2539–2558.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Yeager, S. G., C. A. Shields, W. G. Large, and J. J. Hack, 2006: The low-resolution CCSM3. J. Climate, 19 , 2545–2566.

  • Zhang, Y. C., W. B. Rossow, A. A. Lacis, V. Oinas, and M. I. Mishchenko, 2004: Calculation of radiative fluxes from the surface to top of atmosphere based on ISCCP and other global data sets: Refinements of the radiative transfer model and the input data. J. Geophys. Res, 109 .D19105, doi:10.1029/2003JD004457.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 0 0 0
Full Text Views 1048 273 62
PDF Downloads 366 203 5