The DOE E3SM Coupled Model Version 1: Overview and Evaluation at Standard Resolution. (8th July 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Golaz, Jean‐Christophe; Caldwell, Peter M.; Van Roekel, Luke P.; Petersen, Mark R.; Tang, Qi; Wolfe, Jonathan D.; Abeshu, Guta; Anantharaj, Valentine; Asay‐Davis, Xylar S.; Bader, David C.; Baldwin, Sterling A.; Bisht, Gautam; Bogenschutz, Peter A.; Branstetter, Marcia; Brunke, Michael A.; Brus, Steven R.; Burrows, Susannah M.; Cameron‐Smith, Philip J.; Donahue, Aaron S.; Deakin, Michael; Easter, Richard C.; Evans, Katherine J.; Feng, Yan; Flanner, Mark; Foucar, James G.; Fyke, Jeremy G.; Griffin, Brian M.; Hannay, Cécile; Harrop, Bryce E.; Hoffman, Mattthew J.; Hunke, Elizabeth C.; Jacob, Robert L.; Jacobsen, Douglas W.; Jeffery, Nicole; Jones, Philip W.; Keen, Noel D.; Klein, Stephen A.; Larson, Vincent E.; Leung, L. Ruby; Li, Hong‐Yi; Lin, Wuyin; Lipscomb, William H.; Ma, Po‐Lun; Mahajan, Salil; Maltrud, Mathew E.; Mametjanov, Azamat; McClean, Julie L.; McCoy, Renata B.; Neale, Richard B.; Price, Stephen F.; Qian, Yun; Rasch, Philip J.; Reeves Eyre, J. E. Jack; Riley, William J.; Ringler, Todd D.; Roberts, Andrew F.; Roesler, Erika L.; Salinger, Andrew G.; Shaheen, Zeshawn; Shi, Xiaoying; Singh, Balwinder; Tang, Jinyun; Taylor, Mark A.; Thornton, Peter E.; Turner, Adrian K.; Veneziani, Milena; Wan, Hui; Wang, Hailong; Wang, Shanlin; Williams, Dean N.; Wolfram, Phillip J.; Worley, Patrick H.; Xie, Shaocheng; Yang, Yang; Yoon, Jin‐Ho; Zelinka, Mark D.; Zender, Charles S.; Zeng, Xubin; Zhang, Chengzhu; Zhang, Kai; Zhang, Yuying; Zheng, Xue; Zhou, Tian; Zhu, Qing;
• Is Part Of: Journal of advances in modeling earth systems. Volume 11:Number 7(2019)
• Page Start: 2089
• Page End: 2129
• Publication Date: 2019-07-08
• Subjects: Geological modeling -- Periodicals; Climatology -- Periodicals; Geochemical modeling -- Periodicals; 551.5011
• DOI: 10.1029/2018MS001603
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1942-2466

Abstract

Abstract: This work documents the first version of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) new Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SMv1). We focus on the standard resolution of the fully coupled physical model designed to address DOE mission‐relevant water cycle questions. Its components include atmosphere and land (110‐km grid spacing), ocean and sea ice (60 km in the midlatitudes and 30 km at the equator and poles), and river transport (55 km) models. This base configuration will also serve as a foundation for additional configurations exploring higher horizontal resolution as well as augmented capabilities in the form of biogeochemistry and cryosphere configurations. The performance of E3SMv1 is evaluated by means of a standard set of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Characterization of Klima simulations consisting of a long preindustrial control, historical simulations (ensembles of fully coupled and prescribed SSTs) as well as idealized CO2 forcing simulations. The model performs well overall with biases typical of other CMIP‐class models, although the simulated Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is weaker than many CMIP‐class models. While the E3SMv1 historical ensemble captures the bulk of the observed warming between preindustrial (1850) and present day, the trajectory of the warming diverges from observations in the second half of the twentieth century with a period of delayed warming followed by an excessive warming trend. Using a two‐layer energy balance model, we attribute this divergence to the model's strong aerosol‐related effective radiative forcing (ERFari+aci = −1.65 W/m 2 ) and high equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS = 5.3 K). Plain Language Summary: The U.S. Department of Energy funded the development of a new state‐of‐the‐art Earth system model for research and applications relevant to its mission. The Energy Exascale Earth System Model version 1 (E3SMv1) consists of five interacting components for the global atmosphere, land surface, ocean, sea ice, and rivers. Three of these components (ocean, sea ice, and river) are new and have not been coupled into an Earth system model previously. The atmosphere and land surface components were created by extending existing components part of the Community Earth System Model, Version 1. E3SMv1's capabilities are demonstrated by performing a set of standardized simulation experiments described by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Characterization of Klima protocol at standard horizontal spatial resolution of approximately 1° latitude and longitude. The model reproduces global and regional climate features well compared to observations. Simulated warming between 1850 and 2015 matches observations, but the model is too cold by about 0.5 °C between 1960 and 1990 and later warms at a rate greater than observed. A thermodynamic analysis of the model's response to greenhouse gas and aerosol radiative affects may explain the reasons for the discrepancy. Key Points: This work documents E3SMv1, the first version of the U.S. DOE Energy Exascale Earth System Model The performance of E3SMv1 is documented with a set of standard CMIP6 DECK and historical simulations comprising nearly 3, 000 years E3SMv1 has a high equilibrium climate sensitivity (5.3 K) and strong aerosol‐related effective radiative forcing (‐1.65 W/m 2 )