Energetics of transient-eddy and inter-member variabilities in global and regional climate model simulations

Abstract

Available Enthalpy (AE) and Kinetic Energy (KE) associated with the natural Transient-Eddy (or Time-Variability, TV) and models’ Internal Variability (or Inter-member Variability, IV) are studied using two ensembles of simulations, one from a nested Regional Climate Model (RCM) driven by reanalyses over a regional domain covering eastern North America, and one from a Global Climate Model (GCM), and the Era-interim reanalyses as reference. The fields of TV and IV energies are first examined, both globally and over the regional domain. Results from GCM simulations reveal that GCM TV is similar to that of reanalyses, confirming the realism of the GCM simulations, and TV and IV are approximately equal, in agreement with the ergodicity property. For RCM simulations, TV energies are similar to those of reanalyses driving them. On the other hand, the IV energies of reanalyses-driven RCM simulations are much smaller than those of the GCM, because of the control exerted by the lateral boundary conditions imposed in nested models. While GCM IV energies present similar seasonal variations as the TV energies, the RCM IV greatly fluctuates in time, with short episodes of large variations. The second part of this study is devoted to the analysis of TV and IV energetic budgets. Results indicate similar physical interpretations of conversions, generations and destructions for both TV and IV energetics, although TV is associated with natural phenomena of weather disturbances and IV is a model feature contributing to the uncertainties of simulations.