The Impact on a GCM Climate of an Extended Mosaic Technique for the Land–Atmosphere Coupling

Abstract

Heterogeneities in the land surface on scales smaller than the typical general circulation model (GCM) grid size can have a profound influence on the grid-scale mean climate. There exists observational and modeling evidence that the direct effects of surface heterogeneities may be felt by the atmosphere well into the planetary boundary layer. The impact of including an “extended mosaic” (EM) scheme, which accounts for the vertical influence of land surface heterogeneities in a GCM, is evaluated here by comparing side-by-side GCM simulations with EM and with the more standard mosaic formulation (M). Differences between the EM and M simulations are observed in the boundary layer structure, in fields that link the boundary layer and the general circulation, and in fields that represent the general circulation itself. Large EM − M differences are found over the eastern United States, eastern Asia, and southern Africa in the summertime, and are associated with a boundary layer eddy diffusion feedback mechanism. The feedback mechanism operates as a positive or negative feedback depending on the local Bowen ratio. Significant EM − M differences are also found in the region of the Australian monsoon and in the strength of the stationary Pacific–North America pattern in the northern Pacific.