Abstract
Abstract A coupled earth system model (ESM) has been developed at the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST) by using version 5.3 of the European Centre Hamburg Model (ECHAM), version 3.4 of the Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean (NEMO), and version 4.1 of the Los Alamos sea ice model (CICE). The model is referred to as NUIST ESM1 (NESM1). Comprehensive and quantitative metrics are used to assess the model’s major modes of climate variability most relevant to subseasonal-to-interannual climate prediction. The model’s assessment is placed in a multi-model framework. The model yields a realistic annual mean and annual cycle of equatorial SST, and a reasonably realistic precipitation climatology, but has difficulty in capturing the spring-fall asymmetry and monsoon precipitation domains. The ENSO mode is reproduced well with respect to its spatial structure, power spectrum, phase locking to the annual cycle, and spatial structures of the central Pacific (CP)-ENSO and eastern Pacific (EP)-ENSO; however, the equatorial SST variability, biennial component of ENSO, and the amplitude of CP-ENSO are overestimated. The model captures realistic intraseasonal variability patterns, the vertical-zonal structures of the first two leading predictable modes of Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), and its eastward propagation; but the simulated MJO speed is significantly slower than observed. Compared with the T42 version, the high resolution version (T159) demonstrates improved simulation with respect to the climatology, interannual variance, monsoon-ENSO lead-lag correlation, spatial structures of the leading mode of the Asian-Australian monsoon rainfall variability, and the eastward propagation of the MJO.
Highlights
Since the pioneering work of Manabe and Bryan (1969), immense progress has been made in the development of coupled global climate models (CGCMs) and earth system models (ESMs)
In NUIST ESM1 (NESM1), the CICE module is not used in Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean (NEMO), but is instead treated as a component model, and the multi-layer thermodynamic scheme is employed with four vertical ice layers and one snow layer
In NESM1, all interpolation coefficients are pre-computed based on re-gridding weights and addressed by using the Spherical Coordinate Remapping and Interpolation Package (SCRIP) library, which is included in OASIS3-MCT
Summary
Since the pioneering work of Manabe and Bryan (1969), immense progress has been made in the development of coupled global climate models (CGCMs) and earth system models (ESMs). Chinese atmospheric and oceanic communities have been making great efforts to develop CSMs and ESMs to meet the demands of climate prediction and future projection in China. The first CSM built in China was the Flexible Global Ocean–Atmosphere–Land System gird version 1.0 (FGOALS-g1.0) model by the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) (Yu et al, 2008) Another CSM was built at the Beijing Climate Center (BCC-CM1) (Ding et al, 2000). After CMIP3, modeling groups in China made great efforts to improve their CSMs, including increasing model resolution, improving physical parameterization, and implementing more component models and upgrading to ESMs. For example, the ESM of Beijing Normal University (BNU-ESM) (Ji et al, 2014) and that of the First Institute of Oceanography (FIO-ESM) (Qiao et al, 2013) were developed based on the structure of version 4 of the Community Climate System Model (CCSM4). A more comprehensive evaluation of the simulation of land surface, sea ice, and oceanic processes and variability, as well as teleconnection patterns, will be reported in future work
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