Present-Day Atmospheric Simulations Using GISS ModelE Comparison to In Situ, Satellite, and Reanalysis Data

• Published in: Journal of climate Vol. 19; no. 2; pp. 153 - 192
• Main Authors: Schmidt, Gavin A., Ruedy, Reto, Hansen, James E., Aleinov, Igor, Bell, Nadine, Bauer, Mike, Bauer, Susanne, Cairns, Brian, Canuto, Vittorio, Cheng, Ye, Del Genio, Anthony, Faluvegi, Greg, Friend, Andrew D., Hall, Tim M., Hu, Yongyun, Kelley, Max, Kiang, Nancy Y., Koch, Dorothy, Lacis, Andy A., Lerner, Jean, Lo, Ken K., Miller, Ron L., Nazarenko, Larissa, Oinas, Valdar, Perlwitz, Jan, Perlwitz, Judith, Rind, David, Romanou, Anastasia, Russell, Gary L., Sato, Makiko, Shindell, Drew T., Stone, Peter H., Sun, Shan, Tausnev, Nick, Thresher, Duane, Yao, Mao-Sung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, MA American Meteorological Society 15-01-2006
• Subjects: Aerosols; Atmospheric circulation; Atmospheric circulation models; Atmospheric General Circulation Models; Atmospheric models; Atmospheric temperature; Atmospheric turbulence; Biophysics; Boundary conditions; Chlorofluorocarbons; Climate change; Climate models; Climatology. Bioclimatology. Climate change; Cloud height; Cloud microphysics; Clouds; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Experiments; External geophysics; General circulation models; Geophysics. Techniques, methods, instrumentation and models; Gravity waves; Heat; Humidity; Ice; Lakes; Meteorology; Modeling; Modelling; Oceans; Ozone; Physics; Precipitation; Radiation; Remote control; Remote sensing; Sea ice; Sea level; Sea level pressure; Simulation; Stratopause; Stratosphere; Stratospheric circulation; Temperature; Turbulence; Upper atmosphere; Vegetation; Winds; Stratosphere troposphere coupling; Climatology; Air biosphere interaction; Atmosphere model; General circulation models; algorithm performance; Planetary scale; Atmosphere cryosphere interaction; Observation data; Climate models; digital simulation; ocean-atmosphere interaction
• ISSN: 0894-8755; 1520-0442
• DOI: 10.1175/jcli3612.1

A full description of the ModelE version of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) and results are presented for present-day climate simulations (ca. 1979). This version is a complete rewrite of previous models incorporating numerous improvements in basic physics, the stratospheric circulation, and forcing fields. Notable changes include the following: the model top is now above the stratopause, the number of vertical layers has increased, a new cloud microphysical scheme is used, vegetation biophysics now incorporates a sensitivity to humidity, atmospheric turbulence is calculated over the whole column, and new land snow and lake schemes are introduced. The performance of the model using three configurations with different horizontal and vertical resolutions is compared to quality-controlled in situ data, remotely sensed and reanalysis products. Overall, significant improvements over previous models are seen, particularly in upper-atmosphere temperatures and winds, cloud heights, precipitation, and sea level pressure. Data–model comparisons continue, however, to highlight persistent problems in the marine stratocumulus regions.