Abstract
Earth system models (ESMs) comprise various Earth system components and simulate the interactions between these components. ESMs can be used to understand climate feedbacks between physical, chemical, and biological processes and predict future climate. We developed a new ESM, UKESM-TOPAZ, by coupling the UK ESM (UKESM1) and the Tracers of Phytoplankton with Allometric Zooplankton (TOPAZ) biogeochemical module. We then compared the preliminary simulated biogeochemical variables, which were conducted over a period of 70 years, using observational and existing UKESM1 model data. Similar to UKESM1, the newly developed UKESM-TOPAZ closely simulated the relationship between the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and chlorophyll concentration anomalies during the boreal winter. However, there were differences in the chlorophyll distributions in the eastern equatorial Pacific between the two models, which were due to dissolved iron, as this value was higher in UKESM-TOPAZ than in UKESM1. In a mean field analysis, the distributions of the major marine biogeochemical variables in UKESM-TOPAZ (i.e., nitrate, silicate, dissolved oxygen, dissolved inorganic carbon, and alkalinity) were not significantly different from those of UKESM1, likely because the models share the same initial conditions. Our results indicate that TOPAZ has a simulation performance that does not lag behind UKESM1’s basic biogeochemical model (Model of Ecosystem Dynamics, nutrient Utilisation, Sequestration, and Acidification; MEDUSA). The UKESM-TOPAZ model can simulate the variability of the observed Niño 3.4 and 4 indices more closely than UKESM1. Thus, the UKESM-TOPAZ model can be used to deepen our understanding of the Earth system and to estimate ESM uncertainty.
Highlights
In the Earth system, the ocean is a significant factor that controls the climate (Reid et al 2009; Pörtner et al 2014; Xie 2020)
For the initial conditions used in the UKESM-Tracers of Phytoplankton with Allometric Zooplankton (TOPAZ) model, except the marine biogeochemistry module, we used the January 1, 2565 data from the piControl experiment, which is the initial condition of the UKESM1 model
We described the development of a new Earth system models (ESMs), the UKESM-TOPAZ, by coupling the existing UKESM1 model with the marine biogeochemical model TOPAZ
Summary
In the Earth system, the ocean is a significant factor that controls the climate (Reid et al 2009; Pörtner et al 2014; Xie 2020). Ocean biogeochemical processes are major components of the Earth’s carbon cycle and are important factors that affect climate by interacting with ocean physics or atmospheric chemical processes (Charlson et al 1987; Reid et al 2009; Park et al 2014a, b, 2015; Kim et al 2018). Previous studies have confirmed that marine environmental simulation results obtained from ESMs, including ocean biogeochemical processes, vary from those of other models (Kang et al 2017; Park et al 2017, 2019; Lim et al 2018; Ham et al 2020). We illustrate the development of UKESM-TOPAZ and introduce some preliminary model results by evaluating marine biogeochemical variables.
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