A Global/Regional Integrated Model System-Chemistry Climate Model: 1. Simulation Characteristics

Abstract

This study describes the simulation characteristics of a newly developed Global/Regional Integrated Model system-Chemistry Climate Model (GRIMs-CCM), which is listed in Chemistry Climate Model Initiative as a participating model. The GRIMs-CCM was run using a standard set of forcings, and historical sea surface temperatures and sea ice concentration from the Hadley Centre were prescribed. The simulation results of GRIMs-CCM were compared to the National Center for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis data set 1. The GRIMs-CCM satisfactorily simulated the climatological (1960-2010) atmospheric features and atmospheric teleconnections resulting from tropical sea surface temperature forcing. However, the GRIMs-CCM also had some regional biases; for instance, particularly, the temperature bias over the Antarctic was noticeable. We further analyzed physical processes that caused such biases and the influence of coupled chemistry-climate processes in the GRIMs-CCM, which may provide further guidance to improve an earlier version of the GRIMs-CCM and other climate-chemistry models participating in the Chemistry Climate Model Initiative.