Geoscientific Model Development (Apr 2022)

The EC-Earth3 Earth system model for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6

  • R. Döscher,
  • M. Acosta,
  • A. Alessandri,
  • P. Anthoni,
  • T. Arsouze,
  • T. Bergman,
  • R. Bernardello,
  • S. Boussetta,
  • L.-P. Caron,
  • G. Carver,
  • M. Castrillo,
  • F. Catalano,
  • I. Cvijanovic,
  • P. Davini,
  • E. Dekker,
  • F. J. Doblas-Reyes,
  • D. Docquier,
  • P. Echevarria,
  • U. Fladrich,
  • R. Fuentes-Franco,
  • M. Gröger,
  • J. v. Hardenberg,
  • J. v. Hardenberg,
  • J. Hieronymus,
  • M. P. Karami,
  • J.-P. Keskinen,
  • T. Koenigk,
  • R. Makkonen,
  • F. Massonnet,
  • M. Ménégoz,
  • P. A. Miller,
  • E. Moreno-Chamarro,
  • L. Nieradzik,
  • T. van Noije,
  • P. Nolan,
  • D. O'Donnell,
  • P. Ollinaho,
  • G. van den Oord,
  • P. Ortega,
  • O. T. Prims,
  • A. Ramos,
  • T. Reerink,
  • C. Rousset,
  • Y. Ruprich-Robert,
  • P. Le Sager,
  • T. Schmith,
  • R. Schrödner,
  • F. Serva,
  • V. Sicardi,
  • M. Sloth Madsen,
  • B. Smith,
  • T. Tian,
  • E. Tourigny,
  • P. Uotila,
  • M. Vancoppenolle,
  • S. Wang,
  • D. Wårlind,
  • U. Willén,
  • K. Wyser,
  • S. Yang,
  • X. Yepes-Arbós,
  • Q. Zhang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-2973-2022
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15
pp. 2973 – 3020

Abstract

Read online

The Earth system model EC-Earth3 for contributions to CMIP6 is documented here, with its flexible coupling framework, major model configurations, a methodology for ensuring the simulations are comparable across different high-performance computing (HPC) systems, and with the physical performance of base configurations over the historical period. The variety of possible configurations and sub-models reflects the broad interests in the EC-Earth community. EC-Earth3 key performance metrics demonstrate physical behavior and biases well within the frame known from recent CMIP models. With improved physical and dynamic features, new Earth system model (ESM) components, community tools, and largely improved physical performance compared to the CMIP5 version, EC-Earth3 represents a clear step forward for the only European community ESM. We demonstrate here that EC-Earth3 is suited for a range of tasks in CMIP6 and beyond.