lmd_Li1997_abstracts.html

1997 .

P. Peylin, J. Polcher, G. Bonan, D. L. Williamson, and K. Laval. Comparison of two complex land surface schemes coupled to the National Center for Atmospheric Research general circulation model. Journal of Geophysical Research, 102:19413, August 1997. [ bib | DOI | ADS link ]

Two climate simulations with the National Center for Atmospheric Research general circulation model (version CCM2) coupled either to the Biosphere Atmosphere Transfer Scheme (BATS) or to Sechiba land surface scheme are compared. Both parameterizations of surface-atmosphere exchanges may be considered as complex but represent the soil hydrology and the role of vegetation in very different ways. The global impact of the change in land surface scheme on the simulated climate appears to be small. Changes are smaller than those obtained when comparing either one of these schemes to the fixed hydrology used in the standard CCM2. Nevertheless, at the regional scale, changing the land-surface scheme can have a large impact on the local climate. As one example, wre detail how circulation patterns are modified above the Tibetan plateau during the monsoon season. Elsewhere, mainly over land, changes can also be important. In the tropics, during the dry season, Sechiba produces warmer surface temperatures than does BATS. This warming arises from differences in the soil hydrology, both storage capacity and the dynamics of soil water transport. Over the Tundra biotype, the formulation of the transpiration induces significant differences in the energy balance.

R. D. Cess, M. H. Zhang, G. L. Potter, V. Alekseev, H. W. Barker, S. Bony, R. A. Colman, D. A. Dazlich, A. D. Del Genio, M. DéQué, M. R. Dix, V. Dymnikov, M. Esch, L. D. Fowler, J. R. Fraser, V. Galin, W. L. Gates, J. J. Hack, W. J. Ingram, J. T. Kiehl, Y. Kim, H. Le Treut, X.-Z. Liang, B. J. McAvaney, V. P. Meleshko, J. J. Morcrette, D. A. Randall, E. Roeckner, M. E. Schlesinger, P. V. Sporyshev, K. E. Taylor, B. Timbal, E. M. Volodin, W. Wang, W. C. Wang, and R. T. Wetherald. Comparison of the seasonal change in cloud-radiative forcing from atmospheric general circulation models and satellite observations. Journal of Geophysical Research, 102:16593, July 1997. [ bib | DOI | ADS link ]

We compare seasonal changes in cloud-radiative forcing (CRF) at the top of the atmosphere from 18 atmospheric general circulation models, and observations from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE). To enhance the CRF signal and suppress interannual variability, we consider only zonal mean quantities for which the extreme months (January and July), as well as the northern and southern hemispheres, have been differenced. Since seasonal variations of the shortwave component of CRF are caused by seasonal changes in both cloudiness and solar irradiance, the latter was removed. In the ERBE data, seasonal changes in CRF are driven primarily by changes in cloud amount. The same conclusion applies to the models. The shortwave component of seasonal CRF is a measure of changes in cloud amount at all altitudes, while the longwave component is more a measure of upper level clouds. Thus important insights into seasonal cloud amount variations of the models have been obtained by comparing both components, as generated by the models, with the satellite data. For example, in 10 of the 18 models the seasonal oscillations of zonal cloud patterns extend too far poleward by one latitudinal grid.

G. Krinner, C. Genthon, Z.-X. Li, and P. Le van. Studies of the Antarctic climate with a stretched-grid general circulation model. Journal of Geophysical Research, 102:13731, June 1997. [ bib | DOI | ADS link ]

A stretched-grid general circulation model (GCM), derived from the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD) GCM is used for a multiyear high-resolution simulation of the Antarctic climate. The resolution in the Antarctic region reaches 100 km. In order to correctly represent the polar climate, it is necessary to implement several modifications in the model physics. These modifications mostly concern the parameterizations of the atmospheric boundary layer. The simulated Antarctic climate is significantly better in the stretched-grid simulation than in the regular-grid control run. The katabatic wind regime is well captured, although the winds may be somewhat too weak. The annual snow accumulation is generally close to the observed values, although local discrepancies between the simulated annual accumulation and observations remain. The simulated continental mean annual accumulation is 16.2 cm y^-1. Features like the surface temperature and the temperature inversion over large parts of the continent are correctly represented. The model correctly simulates the atmospheric dynamics of the rest of the globe.

T. H. Chen, A. Henderson-Sellers, P. C. D. Milly, A. J. Pitman, A. C. M. Beljaars, J. Polcher, F. Abramopoulos, A. Boone, S. Chang, F. Chen, Y. Dai, C. E. Desborough, R. E. Dickinson, L. Dümenil, M. Ek, J. R. Garratt, N. Gedney, Y. M. Gusev, J. Kim, R. Koster, E. A. Kowalczyk, K. Laval, J. Lean, D. Lettenmaier, X. Liang, J.-F. Mahfouf, H.-T. Mengelkamp, K. Mitchell, O. N. Nasonova, J. Noilhan, A. Robock, C. Rosenzweig, J. Schaake, C. A. Schlosser, J.-P. Schulz, Y. Shao, A. B. Shmakin, D. L. Verseghy, P. Wetzel, E. F. Wood, Y. Xue, Z.-L. Yang, and Q. Zeng. Cabauw Experimental Results from the Project for Intercomparison of Land-Surface Parameterization Schemes. Journal of Climate, 10:1194-1215, June 1997. [ bib | DOI | ADS link ]

In the Project for Intercomparison of Land-Surface Parameterization Schemes phase 2a experiment, meteorological data for the year 1987 from Cabauw, the Netherlands, were used as inputs to 23 land-surface flux schemes designed for use in climate and weather models. Schemes were evaluated by comparing their outputs with long-term measurements of surface sensible heat fluxes into the atmosphere and the ground, and of upward longwave radiation and total net radiative fluxes, and also comparing them with latent heat fluxes derived from a surface energy balance. Tuning of schemes by use of the observed flux data was not permitted. On an annual basis, the predicted surface radiative temperature exhibits a range of 2 K across schemes, consistent with the range of about 10 W m² in predicted surface net radiation. Most modeled values of monthly net radiation differ from the observations by less than the estimated maximum monthly observational error (10 W m²). However, modeled radiative surface temperature appears to have a systematic positive bias in most schemes; this might be explained by an error in assumed emissivity and by models' neglect of canopy thermal heterogeneity. Annual means of sensible and latent heat fluxes, into which net radiation is partitioned, have ranges across schemes of30 W m² and 25 W m², respectively. Annual totals of evapotranspiration and runoff, into which the precipitation is partitioned, both have ranges of 315 mm. These ranges in annual heat and water fluxes were approximately halved upon exclusion of the three schemes that have no stomatal resistance under non-water-stressed conditions. Many schemes tend to underestimate latent heat flux and overestimate sensible heat flux in summer, with a reverse tendency in winter. For six schemes, root-mean-square deviations of predictions from monthly observations are less than the estimated upper bounds on observation errors (5 W m² for sensible heat flux and 10 W m² for latent heat flux). Actual runoff at the site is believed to be dominated by vertical drainage to groundwater, but several schemes produced significant amounts of runoff as overland flow or interflow. There is a range across schemes of 184 mm (40% of total pore volume) in the simulated annual mean root-zone soil moisture. Unfortunately, no measurements of soil moisture were available for model evaluation. A theoretical analysis suggested that differences in boundary conditions used in various schemes are not sufficient to explain the large variance in soil moisture. However, many of the extreme values of soil moisture could be explained in terms of the particulars of experimental setup or excessive evapotranspiration.

P. L. Read, M. Collins, F. Forget, R. Fournier, F. Hourdin, S. R. Lewis, O. Talagrand, F. W. Taylor, and N. P. J. Thomas. A GCM climate database for mars: for mission planning and for scientific studies. Advances in Space Research, 19:1213-1222, May 1997. [ bib | DOI | ADS link ]

The construction of a new database of statistics on the climate and environment of the Martian atmosphere is currently under way, with the support of the European Space Agency. The primary objectives of this database are to provide information for mission design specialists on the mean state and variability of the Martian environment in unprecedented detail, through the execution of a set of carefully validated simulations of the Martian atmospheric circulation using comprehensive numerical general circulation models. The formulation of the models used are outlined herein, noting especially new improvements in various schemes to parametrize important physical processes, and the scope of the database to be constructed is described. A novel approach towards the representation of large-scale variability in the output of the database using empirical eigenfunctions derived from statistical analyses of the numerical simulations, is also discussed. It is hoped that the resulting database will be of value for both scientific and engineering studies of Mars' atmosphere and near-surface environment.

Z.-X. Li, K. Ide, H. L. Treut, and M. Ghil. Atmospheric radiative equilibria in a simple column model. Climate Dynamics, 13:429-440, 1997. [ bib | DOI | ADS link ]

An analytic radiative-equilibrium model is formulated where both short- and longwave radiation are treated as two-stream (down- and upward) fluxes. An equilibrium state is defined in the model by the vertical temperature profile. The sensitivity of any such state to the model atmosphere's optical properties is formulated analytically. As an example, this general formulation is applied to a single-column 11-layer model, and the model's optical parameters are obtained from a detailed radiative parametrization of a general circulation model. The resulting simple column model is then used to study changes in the Earth-atmosphere system's radiative equilibrium and, in particular, to infer the role of greenhouse trace gases, water vapor and aerosols in modifying the vertical temperature profile. Multiple equilibria appear when a positive surface-albedo feedback is introduced, and their stability is studied. The vertical structure of the radiative fluxes (both short- and longwave) is substantially modified as the temperature profile changes from one equilibrium to another. These equilibria and their stability are compared to those that appear in energy-balance models, which heretofore have ignored the details of the vertical temperature and radiation profiles.