| Summary: | The commentators regard a categorical truncation of supersaturations with respect to ice in climate model output as an inappropriate solution to the supersaturation issue. This view is supported by observational evidence from the East Antarctic Plateau. We accept this criticism to a certain degree. Even so, it is necessary to make a clear distinction between the true supersaturations measured in the atmosphere and the spurious supersaturations existing in archived model output data sets: the latter result, for example, from inconsistencies in the interpolation of temperature and specific humidity to the near-surface level. In the CMIP5 model output data sets, the largest relative humidities in near-surface air are far above those observed. Moreover, supersaturations given at the 2-m height are generally much larger than those at the lowermost tropospheric isobaric levels. Projections of relative humidity for the future may be considerably distorted if founded on unmodified output data sets. Peer reviewed
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