“Climate response functions” for the Arctic Ocean: a proposed coordinated modelling experiment
A coordinated set of Arctic modelling experiments, which explore how the Arctic responds to changes in external forcing, is proposed. Our goal is to compute and compare <q>climate response functions</q> (CRFs) – the transient response of key observable indicators such as sea-ice exte...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2017-07-01
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| Series: | Geoscientific Model Development |
| Online Access: | https://www.geosci-model-dev.net/10/2833/2017/gmd-10-2833-2017.pdf |
| Summary: | A coordinated set of Arctic modelling experiments, which
explore how the Arctic responds to changes in external forcing, is proposed. Our
goal is to compute and compare <q>climate response functions</q> (CRFs)
– the transient response of key observable indicators such as sea-ice
extent, freshwater content of the Beaufort Gyre, etc. – to abrupt
<q>step</q> changes in forcing fields across a number of Arctic
models. Changes in wind, freshwater sources, and inflows to the Arctic
basin are considered. Convolutions of known or postulated time series
of these forcing fields with their respective CRFs then yield the
(linear) response of these observables. This allows the project to
inform, and interface directly with, Arctic observations and observers
and the climate change community. Here we outline the rationale behind
such experiments and illustrate our approach in the context of
a coarse-resolution model of the Arctic based on the MITgcm. We
conclude by summarizing the expected benefits of such an activity and
encourage other modelling groups to compute CRFs with their own models
so that we might begin to document their robustness to model
formulation, resolution, and parameterization. |
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| ISSN: | 1991-959X 1991-9603 |