Surface energy balance errors in AGCMs: Implications for ocean-atmosphere model coupling

Details Surface energy balance errors in AGCMs: Implications for ocean-atmosphere model coupling Surface energy balance errors in AGCMs: Implications for ocean-atmosphere model coupling

Aug 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005georl..3215708g&link_type=abstract

Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 32, Issue 15, CiteID L15708

Physics

2

Atmospheric Processes: Model Calibration (1846), Atmospheric Processes: Global Climate Models (1626, 4928), Atmospheric Processes: Ocean/Atmosphere Interactions (0312, 4504), Atmospheric Processes: Radiative Processes, Oceanography: Physical: Air/Sea Interactions (0312, 3339)

Scientific paper

The oceanic poleward heat transport (TO) implied by an atmospheric General Circulation Model (GCM) can help evaluate a model's readiness for coupling with an ocean GCM. A well known problem is that the sub-tropical Southern Hemisphere TO implied by many models is equatorward, contrary to most observationally-based estimates. By correcting the TO of a diversity of models with satellite-derived observations, an earlier study demonstrated that the dominant TO problems could be explained by model errors in cloud radiative effects. Such errors were argued to be primarily responsible for the erroneous Southern Hemisphere TO. However, systematic evaluation of one model in a later study suggested that the equatorward Southern Hemisphere TO might also be attributable to biases in the ocean surface latent heat flux. In this study we revisit the problem with a more recent suite of simulations, and demonstrate that collectively models have improved, but only slightly. We then use ocean surface fluxes estimates to examine the problem from a surface point of view. Our results clarify that common model errors in the surface latent heat flux can afflict TO as dramatically as errors in cloud radiative effects. To illustrate the relative importance of the two errors, diagnostic tests are introduced that should become increasingly useful as estimates of ocean surface fluxes are improved.

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