Research Theme 2: Evaluating ESMs
A critical step in developing new process parameterizations and increasing confidence in ESM projections is to thoroughly evaluate the representation of these processes against observations. Evaluation of Earth system components has lagged behind that of physical climate processes, so developing process-based techniques to evaluate biogeochemical schemes is crucial for model improvement. The complexity of ESMs means improved parameterization must first be evaluated in a constrained model configuration, driven by observations (e.g. for a vegetation parameterization, running experiments with the land-only component of an ESM driven by observed atmospheric forcing). Targeted observations can then be used to evaluate the realism of the actual processes being simulated and assess the sensitivity of processes to a range of input variables defined from, and evaluated against, observations. Often referred to as process-level or bottom-up evaluation, CRESCENDO will develop a range of such methods to evaluate new ESM process focussing on descriptions focusing on terrestrial and marine biogeochemistry and natural aerosols.
RT2 members
CRESCENDO's RT2 members
- Chris JonesRT2 leaderMet Office Hadley Centre (MOHC), UK
- Tatiana llyinaRT2 leaderMax Plank Institute for Meteorology (MPG), Germany
- Sönke ZaehleWP4 leaderMax Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPG), Germany
- Roland SeferianWP5 leaderCentre National de Recherches Météorologiques – Meteo France (MF-CNRM), France
- Ken CarslawWP6 leaderUniversity of Leeds (UNIVLEEDS), UK