A radiative–convective model computing precipitation with the maximum entropy production hypothesis

Abstract

Abstract. All climate models use parameterizations and tuning in order to be accurate. The different parameterizations and tuning processes are the primary source of difference between models. Because models are tuned with present observations of Earth, they may not accurately simulate climates of other planets or palaeoclimate. A model with no adjustable parameter that happens to fit today's observations is probably more universal and should be more appropriate to model palaeoclimate. However, to our knowledge, such a model does not exist or is yet to be developed. This paper aims to improve a parameter-free radiative–convective model that computes a realistic temperature vertical profile to compute the water cycle, giving a value on average tropical precipitation. Although it is known that the radiative transfer constrains the order of magnitude of precipitation, no parameter-free model has yet been able to compute precipitation. Our model finds a precipitation value closer to observations than similar radiative–convective models or some general circulation models (GCMs).