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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 5, NUMBER 6, JUNE 1992

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
GLOBAL MODELING

Item #d92jun43

Two items from J. Clim., 5(4), Apr. 1992:

"Meridionally Propagating Interannual-to-Interdecadal Variability in a Linear Ocean-Atmosphere Model," V.M. Mehta (NASA-Goddard, Greenbelt MD 20771), 330-342. Oscillation periods, travel times, and meridional structures of surface pressure perturbations in a linearized primitive equation model were comparable to corresponding observed features.

"Comparison of General Circulation Model and Observed Regional Climates: Daily and Seasonal Variability," D.A. Portman (Atmos. Environ. Res. Inc., 840 Memorial Dr., Cambridge MA 02139), W.-C. Wang, T.R. Karl, 543-553. Demonstrates two different approaches for comparing output of individual GCM grid boxes with local station observations, using the NCAR climate model.

Item #d92jun44

"Global and Continental Water Balance in a GCM," G. Thomas (Dept. Geog., Univ. British Columbia, 1984 West Mall, Vancouver V6T 1W5, Can.), A. Henderson-Sellers, Clim. Change, 20(4), 251-276, Apr. 1992. Three versions of the NCAR GCM, differing mainly in spatial resolution and the representation of surface hydrology, are compared against available continental water-balance summaries.

Item #d92jun45

"A Parameterization of Ice Cloud Optical Properties for Climate Models," E.E. Ebert (Bur. Meteor. Res. Ctr., GPO Box 1289K, Melbourne, Vic. 3001, Australia), J.A. Curry, J. Geophys. Res., 97(D4), 3831-3836, Mar. 20, 1992. The new scheme, with five spectral intervals each in the shortwave and the infrared and the capability of varying effective radius and ice water path independently, is applied to cirrus clouds.

Item #d92jun46

"Statistical Validation of GCM-Simulated Climates for the United States Great Lakes and the CIS Emba and Ural River Basins," V. Privalsky (Inst. Appl. Astron., USSR Acad. Sci., Zheanovskaya 8, St. Petersburg 197042, Russia), T.E. Croley, Stochastic Hydrol. Hydraul., 6(1), 69-80, Mar. 1992. Maximum entropy spectral analysis is used to compare GFDL model output with data time series from the respective regions of the U.S. and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Item #d92jun47

Two items from Clim. Dynamics, 7(2), Mar. 1992:

"Equilibrium Ice Sheet Scaling in Climate Modeling," M. Ya Verbitsky (Dept. Geol. Geophys., Yale Univ., POB 6666, New Haven CT 06511), 105-110. A set of simple formulas related to ice sheet evolution is derived from the dynamic and thermodynamic equations and used to estimate the potential sea level change due to greenhouse warming.

"A 1951-80 Global Land Precipitation Climatology for the Evaluation of General Circulation Models," M. Hulme (Climatic Res. Unit., Univ. E. Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK), 57-72. To remedy weaknesses of previous evaluations of model precipitation fields, a climatology is designed specifically for model evaluation.

Item #d92jun48

"Regional-Scale Climate Prediction from the GISS GCM," B.C. Hewitson (Dept. Geog., Pennsylvania State Univ., Univ. Pk. PA 16802), R.G. Crane, Global Planet. Change, 5(3), 249-267, Mar. 1992.

Demonstrates that the Goddard Institute model simulates present-day sea level pressure accurately over the U.S., but temperatures show large regional biases. Application of a transfer function (based on observed data) that relates pressure and temperature distributions permits the derivation of a more accurate temperature field from the model's pressure field. The technique is applicable to doubled CO₂ experiments.

Item #d92jun49

"Radiative Forcing and Greenhouse Effect Due to the Atmospheric Trace Gases, G.Y. Shi (Acad. Sinica, Inst. Atmos. Phys., Beijing 100029, PRC), Sci. in China--Ser. B, 35(2), 217-229, Feb. 1992. (In English)

Develops an advanced radiative-convective model and uses it to examine the relationship between radiative forcing and various trace gases. Shows that proposed CFC substitutes have considerable global warming potential, and that feedback processes within the climate system are important.

Item #d92jun50

Three items from Clim. Dynamics, 7(1), Feb. 1992:

"An Upper Ocean General Circulation Model for Climate Studies: Global Simulation with Seasonal Cycle," C.W. Yuen et al., L.A. Mysak (Ctr. Clim. & Global Change Res., McGill Univ., Montréal, Qué. H3A 2K6, Can.), 1-18. Presents a two-and-a-half layer upper ocean model with relatively coarse horizontal resolution (4° latitude by 5° longitude). Simulations give realistic heat transport and time rate of change of heat storage, although the coarse resolution leads to errors near coasts and in weak currents.

"Arctic Radiation Deficit and Climate Variability," H.-F. Graf (M. Planck Inst. Meteor., Bundesstr. 55, W-2000 Hamburg 13, Ger.), 19-28. Experiments with the ECMWF GCM show that the radiation deficit at high latitudes known to result from large volcanic eruptions causes climatic anomalies at lower latitudes as well.

"Linear Simulation of the Stationary Eddy Response of a General Circulation Model to a Doubling of Atmospheric CO₂," P. Siegmund (Roy. Neth. Meteor. Inst., POB 201, NL-3730 AE De Bilt, Netherlands), 29-37. A GCM scenario was simulated with a linear steady state model responding to anomalies in diabatic heating, and mountain and transient eddy effects. Results were only in partial agreement, with poor agreement in the Southern Hemisphere.

Item #d92jun51

"A Comprehensive Radiation Scheme for Numerical Weather Prediction Models with Potential Applications in Climate Simulations," B. Ritter (Deutsch Wetterdienst, Frankfurter Str. 135, W-6050 Offenbach, Ger.), J.F. Geleyn, Monthly Weather Rev., 120(2), 303-325, Feb. 1992. The scheme is based on the solution of the delta-two-stream version of the radiative transfer equation and permits extremely flexible treatment of clouds. Computation cost varies only linearly with the number of atmospheric model layers, compared to quadratic dependence for some "emissivity-type" methods.

Item #d92jun52

"A Parameterisation of the Effective Radius of Ice-Free Clouds for Use in Global Climate Models," K.N. Böwer (Dept. Pure & Appl. Phys., UMIST, POB 88, Manchester M60 1QD, UK), T.W. Choularton, Atmos. Res., 27(4), 305-339, Feb. 1992. Suggests improvements based on widespread observations over continents and oceans.

Item #d92jun53

"Transient Responses of a Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Model to Gradual Changes of Atmospheric CO₂. Part II: Seasonal Response," S. Manabe (GFDL, Princeton Univ., POB 308, Princeton NJ 08542), M.J. Spelman, R.J. Stouffer, J. Clim., 5(2), 105-126, Feb. 1992.

The increase of surface air temperature in response to a gradual CO₂ increase is at a maximum over the Arctic Ocean region in late fall and winter, while Arctic warming is at a minimum in summer. The Antarctic temperature response is slight because of deep ocean mixing. Soil moisture is reduced during June-August over most of the Northern Hemisphere, except for an increase on the Indian subcontinent.

Item #d92jun54

Two items from J. Clim., 5(1), Jan. 1992:

"Carbon Dioxide and Climate: Mechanisms of Changes in Cloud," J.F.B. Mitchell (Rm. H112, E Division, Meteor. Off., London Rd., Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 2SZ, UK), W.J. Ingram, 5-21. GCM simulations show an upward shift of high cloud and a general reduction of free-tropospheric cloud when climate warms. A diagnosis of GCM response suggests that reduced lower-level cloud results from the increased depth of vertical motions caused by the upward shift of atmospheric radiative cooling as specific humidities increase.

"Equilibrium Climate Statistics of a General Circulation Model as a Function of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide. Part I: Geographic Distributions of Primary Variables," R.J. Oglesby (Dept. Geol. Sci., Brown Univ., Box 1846, Providence RI 02912), B. Saltzman, 66-92. An extended series of simulations using the NCAR model with CO₂ levels of 100-1000 ppm shows that surface temperature, specific humidity and sea-ice cover are the variables most sensitive to CO₂ changes. Important regional responses are seen even in those variables with relatively small sensitivity, such as surface pressure and winds.

Item #d92jun55

"A Comparison of GCM Simulations of Arctic Climate," J.E. Walsh (Dept. Atmos. Sci., Univ. Illinois, Urbana IL 61801), R.G. Crane, Geophys. Res. Lett., 19(1), 29-32, Jan. 3, 1992. Illustrates key differences among five model simulations of the fields most relevant to sea ice/ocean forcing: surface air temperature and sea level pressure. Implications for transports of salinity are important.

Item #d92jun56

"Recent Advances in Modeling the Ocean Circulation and Its Effect on Climate," D.L.T. Anderson (Clarendon Lab., Dept. Phys., Univ. Oxford, Parks Rd., Oxford, UK), J. Willebrand, Rep. Prog. Phys., 55(1), 1-37, Jan. 1992.

An extensive review noting the recent progress on the interaction of the tropical ocean and the atmosphere (El Niño). Variations on decadal and longer time scales, particularly disruptions in thermohaline circulation, remain a major uncertainty.

Item #d92jun57

"Southeast Australia's Wintertime Precipitation: Sensitivity of Climate Predictions to Model Resolution," A.J. Pitman (School Earth Sci., Macquarie Univ., N. Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia), F. Giorgi, A. Henderson-Sellers, Aust. Meteor. Mag., 39(1), 21-35, Mar. 1991. Experiments using versions of the NCAR model show that a mesoscale model embedded within a coarser-resolution GCM offers potential for regional-scale predictions, but a more sophisticated land-surface scheme is needed at both scales.

Item #d92jun58

"Theory and Development of a One-Dimensional Time-Dependent Radiative Convective Climate Model," R.M. MacKay (Dept. Environ. Sci. & Eng., Oregon Grad. Inst. Sci. Technol., Beaverton OR 97006), M.A.K. Khalil, Chemosphere, 22(3-4), 383-417, 1991. The model, devised for easy use by others, was used to simulate the influence on mean global temperature of several trace gases and volcanic aerosols. Results compare well with the observational record.

Item #d92jun59

"Simulation of Anthropogenic Climate Change Using Combined Global Models of the Atmosphere and the Ocean--Problems and Ways of Development," V.P. Meleshko, Izvestiya Akad. Nauk SSSR Fiz. Atmos. i Okeana, 27(7), 691-723, 1991. In Russian. Reviews the status of climate modeling, particularly experiments involving the doubling or gradual increase of atmospheric CO₂. Factors leading to performance differences among models are identified.

Item #d92jun60

"Comparison of Radiance Fields Observed by Satellite and Simulated by the LMD General Circulation Model," W.Y.G. Seze (École Polytech, CNRS-LMD, F-91128 Palaiseau, France), H. Letreut, M. Desbois, Dyn. Atmos. Oceans, 16(1-2), 147-165, 1991. A time series of ISCCP data is compared with a simulation by the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD) GCM, in terms of zonal mean values, spatial resolution, and spectral analysis characteristics.

Item #d92jun61

"Anthropogenic Influence on the Photochemistry and Gas Composition of the Atmosphere," I.L. Karol, A.A. Kiselev, Meteor. i Gidrol., No. 9, 14-19, 1990. Uses a 1-D, time-dependent radiation-photochemical model to project the vertical distributions over the next 50 years of several trace gases (N₂O, NOy, CH₄, CO, CO₂, CFCs).