Beijing Climate Center Earth System Model version 1 (BCC-ESM1): model description and evaluation of aerosol simulations

Tongwen Wu,Aixue Hu,Yanwu Zhang,Jie Zhang,Jinghui Yan,Fang Zhang,Xiaohong Liu,Jun Wang,Haiyue Tan,Fanghua Wu,Xiao Lu,Lin Zhang,Laurent Li,Weihua Jie

doi:10.5194/gmd-13-977-2020

Abstract

Abstract. The Beijing Climate Center Earth System Model version 1 (BCC-ESM1) is the first version of a fully coupled Earth system model with interactive atmospheric chemistry and aerosols developed by the Beijing Climate Center, China Meteorological Administration. Major aerosol species (including sulfate, organic carbon, black carbon, dust, and sea salt) and greenhouse gases are interactively simulated with a whole panoply of processes controlling emission, transport, gas-phase chemical reactions, secondary aerosol formation, gravitational settling, dry deposition, and wet scavenging by clouds and precipitation. Effects of aerosols on radiation, cloud, and precipitation are fully treated. The performance of BCC-ESM1 in simulating aerosols and their optical properties is comprehensively evaluated as required by the Aerosol Chemistry Model Intercomparison Project (AerChemMIP), covering the preindustrial mean state and time evolution from 1850 to 2014. The simulated aerosols from BCC-ESM1 are quite coherent with Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5)-recommended data, in situ measurements from surface networks (such as IMPROVE in the US and EMEP in Europe), and aircraft observations. A comparison of modeled aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 550 nm with satellite observations retrieved from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) and surface AOD observations from the AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) shows reasonable agreement between simulated and observed AOD. However, BCC-ESM1 shows weaker upward transport of aerosols from the surface to the middle and upper troposphere, likely reflecting the deficiency of representing deep convective transport of chemical species in BCC-ESM1. With an overall good agreement between BCC-ESM1 simulated and observed aerosol properties, it demonstrates a success of the implementation of interactive aerosol and atmospheric chemistry in BCC-ESM1.

Highlights

Atmosphere is a thin gaseous layer around the Earth, consisting of nitrogen, oxygen, and a large number of trace gases including important greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as water vapor, tropospheric ozone (O3), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
This paper presents a primary evaluation of aerosols simulated in version 1 of the Beijing Climate Center (BCC)-ESM1 with the implementation of the interactive atmospheric chemistry and aerosol based on the newly developed BCC-CSM2
We evaluate the performance of BCC-ESM1 in simulating aerosols and their optical properties in the 20th century following CoupledModel Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6) historical simulation according to the requirement of the AerChemMIP

Summary

Introduction

Atmosphere is a thin gaseous layer around the Earth, consisting of nitrogen, oxygen, and a large number of trace gases including important greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as water vapor, tropospheric ozone (O3), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Atmosphere contains various aerosols, which are important for cloud formation and radiative transfer. T. Wu et al.: BCC-ESM1 v.1 aerosols are interactive components of the climate system. Wu et al.: BCC-ESM1 v.1 aerosols are interactive components of the climate system Their inclusion in global climate models (GCMs) is a significant enhancement for most state-of-the-art climate models (Lamarque et al, 2013; Collins et al, 2017). Aerosols and chemically reactive gases in the atmosphere exert important influences on global and regional air quality and climate (Collins et al, 2017)

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