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Abstract
The surface radiative fluxes of the ECHAM3 General Circulation Model (GCM) with T2 1, T42, and T 106 resolutions have been validated using observations from the Global Energy Balance Archive (GEBA, World Climate Program-Water Project A7). GEBA contains the most comprehensive dataset now available for worldwide instrumentally measured surface energy fluxes.
The GCM incoming shortwave radiation at the surface has been compared with more than 700 long-term monitoring stations. The ECHAM3 models show a clear tendency to overestimate the global annual-mean incoming shortwave radiation at the surface due to an underestimation of atmospheric absorption. The model-calculated global-mean surface shortwave absorption around 165 W m−2 is estimated to be too high by 10–15 W m−2. A similar or higher overestimate is present in several other CYCMS. Deficiencies in the clear-sky absorption of the ECHAM3 radiation scheme are proposed as a contributor to the flux discrepancies. A stand-alone validation of the radiation scheme under clear-sky conditions revealed overestimates of up to 50 W m−2 for daily maximum values of incoming shortwave fuxes. Further, the lack of shortwave absorption by the model clouds is suggested to contribute to the overestimated surface shortwave radiation.
There are indications that the incoming longwave radiation at the surface is underestimated in ECHAM3 and other GCMS. This largely offsets the overestimated shortwave flux in the global mean, so that the 102 W m-’ calculated in ECHAM3 for the surface net radiation is considered to be a realistic value. A common feature of several GCMs is, therefore, a superficially correct simulation of global mean net radiation, as the overestimate in the shortwave balance is compensated by an underestimate in the longwave balance.
Seasonal and zonal analyses show that the largest overestimate in the incoming shortwave radiation of ECHAM3 is found at low latitudes year round and in midlatitude summer, while at high latitudes and in midlatitude winter the solar input is underestimated. As a result, the meridional gradient of incoming shortwave radiation becomes too large. The zonal discrepancies of the duxes are consistent with differences between the simulated cloud amount and a cloud climatology based on surface observations. The shortwave discrepancies are further visible in the net radiation where the differences show a similar latitudinal dependency including the too strong meridional gradient.
On the global and zonal scale, the simulated fuxes are rather insensitive to changes in horizontal resolution. The systematic large-scale model deviations dominate the effects of increased horizontal resolution.
Abstract
The surface radiative fluxes of the ECHAM3 General Circulation Model (GCM) with T2 1, T42, and T 106 resolutions have been validated using observations from the Global Energy Balance Archive (GEBA, World Climate Program-Water Project A7). GEBA contains the most comprehensive dataset now available for worldwide instrumentally measured surface energy fluxes.
The GCM incoming shortwave radiation at the surface has been compared with more than 700 long-term monitoring stations. The ECHAM3 models show a clear tendency to overestimate the global annual-mean incoming shortwave radiation at the surface due to an underestimation of atmospheric absorption. The model-calculated global-mean surface shortwave absorption around 165 W m−2 is estimated to be too high by 10–15 W m−2. A similar or higher overestimate is present in several other CYCMS. Deficiencies in the clear-sky absorption of the ECHAM3 radiation scheme are proposed as a contributor to the flux discrepancies. A stand-alone validation of the radiation scheme under clear-sky conditions revealed overestimates of up to 50 W m−2 for daily maximum values of incoming shortwave fuxes. Further, the lack of shortwave absorption by the model clouds is suggested to contribute to the overestimated surface shortwave radiation.
There are indications that the incoming longwave radiation at the surface is underestimated in ECHAM3 and other GCMS. This largely offsets the overestimated shortwave flux in the global mean, so that the 102 W m-’ calculated in ECHAM3 for the surface net radiation is considered to be a realistic value. A common feature of several GCMs is, therefore, a superficially correct simulation of global mean net radiation, as the overestimate in the shortwave balance is compensated by an underestimate in the longwave balance.
Seasonal and zonal analyses show that the largest overestimate in the incoming shortwave radiation of ECHAM3 is found at low latitudes year round and in midlatitude summer, while at high latitudes and in midlatitude winter the solar input is underestimated. As a result, the meridional gradient of incoming shortwave radiation becomes too large. The zonal discrepancies of the duxes are consistent with differences between the simulated cloud amount and a cloud climatology based on surface observations. The shortwave discrepancies are further visible in the net radiation where the differences show a similar latitudinal dependency including the too strong meridional gradient.
On the global and zonal scale, the simulated fuxes are rather insensitive to changes in horizontal resolution. The systematic large-scale model deviations dominate the effects of increased horizontal resolution.
Abstract
The longwave radiation emitted by the atmosphere toward the surface [downward longwave radiation (DLR)] is a crucial factor in the exchange of energy between the earth surface and the atmosphere and in the context of radiation-induced climate change. Accurate modeling of this quantity is therefore a fundamental prerequisite for a reliable simulation and projection of the surface climate in coupled general circulation models (GCM).
DLR climatologies calculated in a number of GCMs and in a model in assimilation mode (reanalysis) are analyzed using newly available data from 45 worldwide distributed observation sites of the Global Energy Balance Archive (GEBA) and the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN). It is shown that substantial biases are present in the GCM-calculated DLR climatologies, with the GCMs typically underestimating the DLR (estimated here to be approximately 344 W m−2 globally). The biases are, however, not geographically homogeneous, but depend systematically on the prevailing atmospheric conditions. The DLR is significantly underestimated particularly at observation sites with cold and dry climates and thus little DLR emission. This underestimation gradually diminishes toward sites with more moderate climates; at sites with warm or humid atmospheric conditions and strong DLR emission, the GCM-calculated DLR is in better agreement with the observations or even overestimates them. This is equivalent to creating an excessively strong meridional gradient of DLR in the GCMs.
The very same tendencies are independently found in stand-alone calculations with the GCM radiation codes in isolation, using observed atmospheric profiles of temperature and humidity for cloud-free conditions as input to the radiation schemes. A significant underestimation of DLR is calculated by the radiation schemes when driven with clear-sky atmospheric profiles of temperature and humidity representative for cold and dry climates, whereas the DLR is no longer underestimated by the radiation schemes with prescribed clear-sky profiles representative for a hot and humid atmosphere. This suggests that the biases in the GCM-calculated DLR climatologies are predominantly induced by problems in the simulated emission of the cloud-free atmosphere.
The same biases are also found in the DLR fluxes calculated by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model in assimilation mode (reanalysis), in which the biases in the atmospheric thermal and humidity structure are minimized. This gives further support that the biases in the DLR are not primarily due to errors in the model-predicted atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles that enter the radiative transfer calculations, but rather are due to the radiation schemes themselves. A particular problem in these schemes is the accurate simulation of the thermal emission from the cold, dry, cloud-free atmosphere.
Abstract
The longwave radiation emitted by the atmosphere toward the surface [downward longwave radiation (DLR)] is a crucial factor in the exchange of energy between the earth surface and the atmosphere and in the context of radiation-induced climate change. Accurate modeling of this quantity is therefore a fundamental prerequisite for a reliable simulation and projection of the surface climate in coupled general circulation models (GCM).
DLR climatologies calculated in a number of GCMs and in a model in assimilation mode (reanalysis) are analyzed using newly available data from 45 worldwide distributed observation sites of the Global Energy Balance Archive (GEBA) and the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN). It is shown that substantial biases are present in the GCM-calculated DLR climatologies, with the GCMs typically underestimating the DLR (estimated here to be approximately 344 W m−2 globally). The biases are, however, not geographically homogeneous, but depend systematically on the prevailing atmospheric conditions. The DLR is significantly underestimated particularly at observation sites with cold and dry climates and thus little DLR emission. This underestimation gradually diminishes toward sites with more moderate climates; at sites with warm or humid atmospheric conditions and strong DLR emission, the GCM-calculated DLR is in better agreement with the observations or even overestimates them. This is equivalent to creating an excessively strong meridional gradient of DLR in the GCMs.
The very same tendencies are independently found in stand-alone calculations with the GCM radiation codes in isolation, using observed atmospheric profiles of temperature and humidity for cloud-free conditions as input to the radiation schemes. A significant underestimation of DLR is calculated by the radiation schemes when driven with clear-sky atmospheric profiles of temperature and humidity representative for cold and dry climates, whereas the DLR is no longer underestimated by the radiation schemes with prescribed clear-sky profiles representative for a hot and humid atmosphere. This suggests that the biases in the GCM-calculated DLR climatologies are predominantly induced by problems in the simulated emission of the cloud-free atmosphere.
The same biases are also found in the DLR fluxes calculated by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model in assimilation mode (reanalysis), in which the biases in the atmospheric thermal and humidity structure are minimized. This gives further support that the biases in the DLR are not primarily due to errors in the model-predicted atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles that enter the radiative transfer calculations, but rather are due to the radiation schemes themselves. A particular problem in these schemes is the accurate simulation of the thermal emission from the cold, dry, cloud-free atmosphere.
