The Arctic Sea Ice Thickness Change in CMIP6’s Historical Simulations

This study assesses sea ice thickness(SIT)from the historical run of the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project Phase 6(CMIP6).The SIT reanalysis from the Pan-Arctic Ice Ocean Modeling and Assimilation System(PIOMAS)product is chosen as the validation reference data.Results show that most models can adequately reproduce the climatological mean,seasonal cycle,and long-term trend of Arctic Ocean SIT during 1979-2014,but significant inter-model spread exists.Differences in simulated SIT patterns among the CMIP6 models may be related to model resolution and sea ice model components.By comparing the climatological mean and trend for SIT among all models,the Arctic SIT change in different seas during 1979-2014 is evaluated.Under the scenario of historical radiative forcing,the Arctic SIT will probably exponentially decay at-18%(10 yr)-1 and plausibly reach its minimum(equilibrium)of 0.47 m since the 2070s.

The CMIP6 Historical Simulation Datasets Produced by the Climate System Model CAMS-CSM

This paper describes the historical simulations produced by the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences(CAMS)climate system model(CAMS-CSM),which are contributing to phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project(CMIP6).The model description,experiment design and model outputs are presented.Three members’historical experiments are conducted by CAMS-CSM,with two members starting from different initial conditions,and one excluding the stratospheric aerosol to identify the effect of volcanic eruptions.The outputs of the historical experiments are also validated using observational data.It is found that the model can reproduce the climatological mean states and seasonal cycle of the major climate system quantities,including the surface air temperature,precipitation,and the equatorial thermocline.The long-term trend of air temperature and precipitation is also reasonably captured by CAMS-CSM.There are still some biases in the model that need further improvement.This paper can help the users to better understand the performance and the datasets of CAMS-CSM.

Steric Sea Level Change in Twentieth Century Historical Climate Simulation and IPCC-RCP8.5 Scenario Projection: A Comparison of Two Versions of FGOALS Model

To reveal the steric sea level change in 20th century historical climate simulations and future climate change projections under the IPCC＇s Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 （RCP8.5） scenario, the results of two versions of LASG/IAP＇s Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System model （FGOALS） are analyzed. Both models reasonably reproduce the mean dynamic sea level features, with a spatial pattern correlation coefficient of 0.97 with the observation. Characteristics of steric sea level changes in the 20th century historical climate simulations and RCPS.5 scenario projections are investigated. The results show that, in the 20th century, negative trends covered most parts of the global ocean. Under the RCPS.5 scenario, global-averaged steric sea level exhibits a pronounced rising trend throughout the 21st century and the general rising trend appears in most parts of the global ocean. The magnitude of the changes in the 21st century is much larger than that in the 20th century. By the year 2100, the global-averaged steric sea level anomaly is 18 cm and 10 cm relative to the year 1850 in the second spectral version of FGOALS （FGOALS-s2） and the second grid-point version of FGOALS （FGOALS-g2）, respectively. The separate contribution of the thermosteric and halosteric components from various ocean layers is further evaluated. In the 20th century, the steric sea level changes in FGOALS-s2 （FGOALS-g2） are largely attributed to the thermosteric （halosteric） component relative to the pre-industrial control run. In contrast, in the 21st century, the thermosteric component, mainly from the upper 1000 m, dominates the steric sea level change in both models under the RCPS.5 scenario. In addition, the steric sea level change in the marginal sea of China is attributed to the thermosteric component.

Historical Evolution of Global and Regional Surface Air Temperature Simulated by FGOALS-s2 and FGOALS-g2: How Reliable Are the Model Results?

In order to assess the performance of two versions of the IAP/LASG Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere- Land System （FGOALS） model, simulated changes in surface air temperature （SAT）, from natural and an- thropogenie forcings, were compared to observations for the period 1850-2005 at global, hemispheric, conti- nental and regional scales. The global and hemispheric averages of SAT and their land and ocean components during 1850-2005 were well reproduced by FGOALS-g2, as evidenced by significant correlation coefficients and small RMSEs. The significant positive correlations were firstly determined by the warming trends, and secondly by interdecadal fluctuations. The abilities of the models to reproduce interdecadal SAT variations were demonstrated by both wavelet analysis and significant positive correlations for detrended data. The observed land-sea thermal contrast change was poorly simulated. The major weakness of FGOALS-s2 was an exaggerated warming response to anthropogenic forcing, with the simulation showing results that were far removed from observations prior to the 1950s. The observations featured warming trends （1906-2005） of 0.71, 0.68 and 0.79℃ （100 yr）-1 for global, Northern and Southern Hemispheric averages, which were overestimated by FGOALS-s2 [1.42, 1.52 and 1.13~C （100 yr）-1] but underestimated by FGOALS-g2 [0.69, 0.68 and 0.73~C （100 yr）-l]. The polar amplification of the warming trend was exaggerated in FGOALS- s2 but weakly reproduced in FGOALS-g2. The stronger response of FGOALS-s2 to anthropogenic forcing was caused by strong sea-ice albedo feedback and water vapor feedback. Examination of model results in 15 selected subcontinental-scale regions showed reasonable performance for FGOALS-g2 over most regions. However, the observed warming trends were overestimated by FGOALS-s2 in most regions. Over East Asia, the meridional gradient of the warming trend simulated by FGOALS-s2 （FGOALS-g2） was stronger （weaker） than observed.

Improvement of Soil Moisture Simulation in Eurasia by the Beijing Climate Center Climate System Model from CMIP5 to CMIP6

This study provides a comprehensive evaluation of historical surface soil moisture simulation(1979-2012)over Eurasia at annual and seasonal time scales between two medium-resolution versions of the Beijing Climate Center Climate System Model(BCC-CSM)—one that is currently participating in phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project(CMIP6),i.e.,BCC-CSM2-MR,and the other,BCC-CSM1.1m,which participated in CMIP5.We show that BCC-CSM2-MR is more skillful in reproducing the climate mean states and standard deviations of soil moisture,with pattern correlations increased and biases reduced significantly.BCC-CSM2-MR performs better in capturing the first two primary patterns of soil moisture anomalies,where the period of the corresponding time series is closer to that of reference data.Comparisons show that BCC-CSM2-MR performs at a high level among multiple models of CMIP6 in terms of centered pattern correlation and“amplitude of variation”(relative standard deviation).In general,the centered pattern correlation of BCC-CSM2-MR,ranging from 0.61 to 0.87,is higher than the multi-model mean of CMIP6,and the relative standard deviation is 0.75,which surmounts the overestimations in most of the CMIP6 models.Due to the vital role played by precipitation in land-atmosphere interaction,possible causes of the improvement of soil moisture simulation are further related to precipitation in BCC-CSM2-MR.The results indicate that a better description of the relationship between soil moisture and precipitation and a better reproduction of the climate mean precipitation by the model may result in the improved performance of soil moisture simulation.

Overview of the CMIP6 Historical Experiment Datasets with the Climate System Model CAS FGOALS-f3-L

The three-member historical simulations by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Flexible Global Ocean–Atmosphere–Land System model,version f3-L(CAS FGOALS-f3-L),which is contributing to phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project(CMIP6),are described in this study.The details of the CAS FGOALS-f3-L model,experiment settings and output datasets are briefly introduced.The datasets include monthly and daily outputs from the atmospheric,oceanic,land and sea-ice component models of CAS FGOALS-f3-L,and all these data have been published online in the Earth System Grid Federation(ESGF,https://esgf-node.llnl.gov/projects/cmip6/).The three ensembles are initialized from the 600th,650th and 700th model year of the preindustrial experiment(piControl)and forced by the same historical forcing provided by CMIP6 from 1850 to 2014.The performance of the coupled model is validated in comparison with some recent observed atmospheric and oceanic datasets.It is shown that CAS FGOALS-f3-L is able to reproduce the main features of the modern climate,including the climatology of air surface temperature and precipitation,the long-term changes in global mean surface air temperature,ocean heat content and sea surface steric height,and the horizontal and vertical distribution of temperature in the ocean and atmosphere.Meanwhile,like other state-of-the-art coupled GCMs,there are still some obvious biases in the historical simulations,which are also illustrated.This paper can help users to better understand the advantages and biases of the model and the datasets。

Precipitation Changes in Wet and Dry Seasons over the 20th Century Simulated by Two Versions of the FGOALS Model

Seasonal precipitation changes over the globe during the 20th century simulated by two versions of the Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System （FGOALS） model are assessed. The two model versions differ in terms of their AGCM component, but the remaining parts of the system are almost identical. Both models reasonably reproduce the mean-state features of the timings of the wet and dry seasons and related precipitation amounts, with pattern correlation coefficients of 0.65-0.84 with observations. Globally averaged seasonal precipitation changes are analyzed. The results show that wet sea- sons get wetter and the annual range （precipitation difference between wet and dry seasons） increases during the 20th century in the two models, with positive trends covering most parts of the globe, which is consistent with observations. However, both models show a moistening dry season, which is opposite to observations. Analysis of the globally averaged moisture budget in the historical climate simulations of the two models shows little change in the horizontal moisture advection in both the wet and dry seasons. The globally averaged seasonal precipitation changes are mainly dominated by the changes in evaporation and vertical moisture advection. Evaporation and vertical moisture advection combine to make wet seasons wetter and enhance the annual range. In the dry season, the opposite change of evaporation and vertical moisture advection leads to an insignificant change in precipitation. Vertical moisture advection is the most important term that determines the changes in precipitation, wherein the thermodynamic component is dominant and the dynamic component tends to offset the effect of the thermodynamic component.

On the spring stratospheric final warming in CMIP5 and CMIP6 models

This study evaluates the performance in simulating the stratospheric final warming events(SFWs)that lead to the final collapse of the stratospheric polar vortex in spring in both Southern and Northern Hemispheres(SH and NH,respectively)based on the historical simulations provided by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phases 5 and 6(CMIP5 and CMIP6,respectively).Overall,CMIP5 and CMIP6 models can reproduce the main characteristics of the occurrence of SFWs.However,the SFW onset date(SFWOD)is 7 and 9 days later than in observations in the SH and NH,respectively.Moreover,the intensity of SFWs in models is 50%to 70%of that in observations.Compared with CMIP5 models,CMIP6 models have an ameliorated capability to simulate NH SFWs.However,this improvement does not manifest as significantly earlier SFW onset,but as more intense stratospheric planetary wave activities before the SFWand as a larger interannual variability of the SFWOD.By contrast,in the SH,the capability of CMIP6 models is roughly unchanged,even deteriorated in the simulation of SFWOD and stratospheric planetary wave activities before the SFW onset.The performance of CMIP6 high-top models is better than that of lowtop models.Specifically,in the NH,high-top models are considerably improved in terms of intensity of circumpolar zonal wind around the SFWOD and stratospheric planetary wave activities before the SFW onset.In the SH,high-top models show fairly earlier SFWOD by 11 days,which is closer to observations.