SGER: Modeling the Atmospheric Circulation Over the Arctic

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

The proposed project will perform and analyze uncoupled Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP-2) type integrations of the Climate Community Model (CCM) at T 42, T85 and T170 resolutions. The PIs will test if biases in simulated sea level pressure(SLP) are caused by (i) insufficient resolution of flow over orography, especially Greenland, (ii) insufficient resolution of transient circulations including surface effects on cyclogenesis and cyclone evolution in the storm tracks of high northern latitutes, (iii) poor simulation of clouds and atmospheric radiation due to model physics and (iv) over-simplification in the prescribed surface boundary conditions over sea ice. Improving GCM simulations of arctic surface winds and SLP is a prerequisite to obtaining useful coupled simulations of the arctic climate. The work is important because it will provide strong diagnostics underpinning to the CSM project from a university based group engaged in dynamical diagnosis of observed climate variability at high latitudes.