PLASIM–GENIE v1.0: a new intermediate complexity AOGCM

Abstract

We describe the development, tuning and climate of Planet Simulator (PLASIM)–Grid-ENabled Integrated Earth system model (GENIE), a new intermediate complexity Atmosphere–Ocean General Circulation Model (AOGCM), built by coupling the Planet Simulator to the ocean, sea-ice and land-surface components of the GENIE Earth system model. PLASIM–GENIE supersedes GENIE-2, a coupling of GENIE to the Reading Intermediate General Circulation Model (IGCM). The primitive-equation atmosphere includes chaotic, three-dimensional (3-D) motion and interactive radiation and clouds, and dominates the computational load compared to the relatively simpler frictional-geostrophic ocean, which neglects momentum advection. The model is most appropriate for long-timescale or large ensemble studies where numerical efficiency is prioritised, but lack of data necessitates an internally consistent, coupled calculation of both oceanic and atmospheric fields. A 1000-year simulation with PLASIM–GENIE requires approximately 2 weeks on a single node of a 2.1 GHz AMD 6172 CPU. We demonstrate the tractability of PLASIM–GENIE ensembles by deriving a subjective tuning of the model with a 50-member ensemble of 1000-year simulations. The simulated climate is presented considering (i) global fields of seasonal surface air temperature, precipitation, wind, solar and thermal radiation, with comparisons to reanalysis data; (ii) vegetation carbon, soil moisture and aridity index; and (iii) sea surface temperature, salinity and ocean circulation. Considering its resolution, PLASIM–GENIE reproduces the main features of the climate system well and demonstrates usefulness for a wide range of applications.