American Geophysical Union Become an AGU Member
Subscribe to AGU Journals		 AGU Home AGU Publications

Read Full Article (file size: 216271 bytes)    Cited by

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 33, L06714, doi:10.1029/2005GL025464, 2006

Climate sensitivity and cloud response of a GCM with a superparameterization

Matthew C. Wyant

Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA


Marat Khairoutdinov

Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA


Christopher S. Bretherton

Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA


Abstract

The climate sensitivity of an atmospheric GCM that uses a cloud-resolving model as a convective superparameterization is analyzed by comparing simulations with specified climatological sea surface temperature (SST) and with the SST increased by 2 K. The model has weaker climate sensitivity than most GCMs, but comparable climate sensitivity to recent aqua-planet simulations of a global cloud-resolving model. The weak sensitivity is primarily due to an increase in low cloud fraction and liquid water in tropical regions of moderate subsidence as well as substantial increases in high-latitude cloud fraction.

Received 12 December 2005; accepted 17 February 2006; published 29 March 2006.

Index Terms: 1626 Global Change: Global climate models (3337, 4928); 3305 Atmospheric Processes: Climate change and variability (1616, 1635, 3309, 4215, 4513); 3310 Atmospheric Processes: Clouds and cloud feedbacks.

Read Full Article (file size: 216271 bytes)    Cited by

Citation: Wyant, M. C., M. Khairoutdinov, and C. S. Bretherton (2006), Climate sensitivity and cloud response of a GCM with a superparameterization, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L06714, doi:10.1029/2005GL025464.