Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems (Feb 2020)
The Community Earth System Model Version 2 (CESM2)
- G. Danabasoglu,
- J.‐F. Lamarque,
- J. Bacmeister,
- D. A. Bailey,
- A. K. DuVivier,
- J. Edwards,
- L. K. Emmons,
- J. Fasullo,
- R. Garcia,
- A. Gettelman,
- C. Hannay,
- M. M. Holland,
- W. G. Large,
- P. H. Lauritzen,
- D. M. Lawrence,
- J. T. M. Lenaerts,
- K. Lindsay,
- W. H. Lipscomb,
- M. J. Mills,
- R. Neale,
- K. W. Oleson,
- B. Otto‐Bliesner,
- A. S. Phillips,
- W. Sacks,
- S. Tilmes,
- L. vanKampenhout,
- M. Vertenstein,
- A. Bertini,
- J. Dennis,
- C. Deser,
- C. Fischer,
- B. Fox‐Kemper,
- J. E. Kay,
- D. Kinnison,
- P. J. Kushner,
- V. E. Larson,
- M. C. Long,
- S. Mickelson,
- J. K. Moore,
- E. Nienhouse,
- L. Polvani,
- P. J. Rasch,
- W. G. Strand
Affiliations
- G. Danabasoglu
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- J.‐F. Lamarque
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- J. Bacmeister
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- D. A. Bailey
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- A. K. DuVivier
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- J. Edwards
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- L. K. Emmons
- Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modeling Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- J. Fasullo
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- R. Garcia
- Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modeling Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- A. Gettelman
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- C. Hannay
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- M. M. Holland
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- W. G. Large
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- P. H. Lauritzen
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- D. M. Lawrence
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- J. T. M. Lenaerts
- Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences University of Colorado Boulder Boulder CO USA
- K. Lindsay
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- W. H. Lipscomb
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- M. J. Mills
- Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modeling Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- R. Neale
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- K. W. Oleson
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- B. Otto‐Bliesner
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- A. S. Phillips
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- W. Sacks
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- S. Tilmes
- Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modeling Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- L. vanKampenhout
- Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht Utrecht University Utrecht Netherlands
- M. Vertenstein
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- A. Bertini
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- J. Dennis
- Computational and Information Systems Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- C. Deser
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- C. Fischer
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- B. Fox‐Kemper
- Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences Brown University Providence RI USA
- J. E. Kay
- Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences University of Colorado Boulder Boulder CO USA
- D. Kinnison
- Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modeling Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- P. J. Kushner
- Department of Physics University of Toronto Toronto ON Canada
- V. E. Larson
- Department of Mathematical Sciences University of Wisconsin‐Milwaukee Milwaukee WI USA
- M. C. Long
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- S. Mickelson
- Computational and Information Systems Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- J. K. Moore
- Department of Earth System Science University of California Irvine Irvine CA USA
- E. Nienhouse
- Computational and Information Systems Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- L. Polvani
- Applied Mathematics/Earth and Environmental Sciences Columbia University New York NY USA
- P. J. Rasch
- Atmospheric Science and Global Change Division Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Richland WA USA
- W. G. Strand
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2019MS001916
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 12,
no. 2
pp. n/a – n/a
Abstract
Abstract An overview of the Community Earth System Model Version 2 (CESM2) is provided, including a discussion of the challenges encountered during its development and how they were addressed. In addition, an evaluation of a pair of CESM2 long preindustrial control and historical ensemble simulations is presented. These simulations were performed using the nominal 1° horizontal resolution configuration of the coupled model with both the “low‐top” (40 km, with limited chemistry) and “high‐top” (130 km, with comprehensive chemistry) versions of the atmospheric component. CESM2 contains many substantial science and infrastructure improvements and new capabilities since its previous major release, CESM1, resulting in improved historical simulations in comparison to CESM1 and available observations. These include major reductions in low‐latitude precipitation and shortwave cloud forcing biases; better representation of the Madden‐Julian Oscillation; better El Niño‐Southern Oscillation‐related teleconnections; and a global land carbon accumulation trend that agrees well with observationally based estimates. Most tropospheric and surface features of the low‐ and high‐top simulations are very similar to each other, so these improvements are present in both configurations. CESM2 has an equilibrium climate sensitivity of 5.1–5.3 °C, larger than in CESM1, primarily due to a combination of relatively small changes to cloud microphysics and boundary layer parameters. In contrast, CESM2's transient climate response of 1.9–2.0 °C is comparable to that of CESM1. The model outputs from these and many other simulations are available to the research community, and they represent CESM2's contributions to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6.
Keywords
- Community Earth System Model (CESM)
- global coupled Earth system modeling
- preindustrial and historical simulations
- coupled model development and evaluation
