The Earth system model CLIMBER-X v1.0 – Part 1: Climate model description and validation

• Published in: Geoscientific Model Development
• Main Authors: M. Willeit, A. Ganopolski, A. Robinson, N. R. Edwards
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2022
• Subjects: Geology; QE1-996.5; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5905-2022; https://doaj.org/article/07826434ca094995b90aceee9a650210

The newly developed fast Earth system model CLIMBER-X is presented. The climate component of CLIMBER-X consists of a 2.5-D semi-empirical statistical–dynamical atmosphere model, a 3-D frictional–geostrophic ocean model, a dynamic–thermodynamic sea ice model and a land surface model. All the model components are discretized on a regular lat–long grid with a horizontal resolution of <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mn mathvariant="normal">5</mn><mspace linebreak="nobreak" width="0.125em"/><msup><mi/><mo>∘</mo></msup><mo>×</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">5</mn><mspace width="0.125em" linebreak="nobreak"/><msup><mi/><mo>∘</mo></msup></mrow></math> <svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="36pt" height="11pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="d52a13be27948b7a5f8485abdb15ff4b"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="gmd-15-5905-2022-ie00001.svg" width="36pt" height="11pt" src="gmd-15-5905-2022-ie00001.png"/></svg:svg> . The model has a throughput of ∼ 10 000 simulation years per day on a single node with 16 CPUs on a high-performance computer and is designed to simulate the evolution of the Earth system on temporal scales ranging from decades to >100 000 years. A comprehensive evaluation of the model performance for the present day and the historical period shows that CLIMBER-X is capable of realistically reproducing many observed climate characteristics, with results that generally lie within the range of state-of-the-art general circulation models. The analysis of model performance is complemented by a thorough assessment of climate feedbacks and model sensitivities to changes in external forcings and boundary conditions. Limitations and applicability of the model are critically discussed. CLIMBER-X also includes a detailed ...