Data.GISS: Model E: CMIP5 Simulation Configurations (2024)

ModelE CMIP5 Climate Simulations

Configurations for CMIP5 Simulations, Updates, and Issues

GISS submitted a number of different configurations to the CMIP5 model data repository via the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) (or via PCMDI).We have also submitted versions of this model to the ACCMIP project. The configurations vary as a function of the degree of interactivity in the atmospheric composition, the carbon cycle, the ocean model and the atmospheric grid. Each configuration corresponds to a rundeck in the Model E distribution, as follows:

• GISS-E2-R: ModelE/Russell 2×2.5×L40. This uses the ModelE atmospheric code on a lat-lon grid, with 40 layers in the vertical, a model top at 0.1 mb and is coupled to the Russell ocean model (1×1.25×L32). There are three versions of this model that vary in how aerosols and atmospheric chemistry are handled:
  • physics_version=1 (NINT), aerosols and ozone are read in via pre-computed transient aerosol and ozone fields. The aerosol indirect effect is parameterized. This corresponds to the rundeck E_AR5_NINT_oR.R
  • physics_version=2 (TCAD), aerosols and atmospheric chemistry are calculated online as a function of atmospheric state and tranisent emissions inventories. The aerosol indirect effect is paramterised. This corresponds to the rundeck E_AR5_CAD_oR.R
  • physics_version=3 (TCADI), atmospheric composition is calculated as for physics_version=2, but the aerosol impacts on clouds (and hence the AIE) is calculated. This corresponds to the rundeck E_AR5_CADI_oR.R
• GISS-E2-H: ModelE/Hycom 2×2.5×L40. This uses the same ModelE atmospheric code as above but is coupled to the HYCOM ocean model (tripolar grid ~1×1×L26 - Note that HYCOM output diagnostics are made available remapped to a cartesian 1x1 grid with a uniform 33 levels). There are also three physics versions as described above.
• GISS-E2-R-CC: ModelE/Russell 2×2.5×L40. Interactive Carbon Cycle As for GISS-E2-R with interactive terrestrial carbon cycle and oceanic bio-geochemistry. This corresponds to the rundeck E_AR5_NINT_oR_CC.R
• GISS-E2-H-CC: ModelE/Russell 2×2.5×L40. As for GISS-E2-H with interactive terrestrial carbon cycle and oceanic bio-geochemistry. E_AR5_NINT_oH_CC.R

For the ACCMIP experiments we have an additional physics-version=4, which is identical to TCADI (physics-version=3), but with a different aerosol module, based on TOMAS (Lee et al, 2009).

For some experiments, we have performed the experiments with variations in the forcings. Due to the file system setup for the CMIP5 archive this variations are denoted by additional variations in the physics-version parameter. For these 'variations on a theme', the physics-version will be denoted by a 3 digit integer: pNMM. The first digit N = {1,2,3} is the physics-version as defined above. The next two digits denote the specific forcing variation according to the following tables.

Experiment: Simulations from 1850 to 2005 ("historicalMisc")

Note: for r[1-5]i1p100/p1 in this experiment only, the solar forcing is as observed only to the end of 2000, and is a repeated 11 yr cycle subsequently. All other simulations used solar forcing as observed up to the end of 2005.

Note p114 is a rerun of p105 with the ozone forcing used in the historical NINT simulations and should be used in preference to p105 in attributing changes in the NINT simulations (along with p101/102/103/104/106/107/108/109).

Note that 'WMGHG only' is covered by historicalGHG, and 'orb+volc+solar' is covered by historicalNat.

ERRATA: The p303 runs for both GISS-E2-R and GISS-E2-H as currently archived inadvertently included the forcings from p310 (anthropogenic aerosol emissions) as well as volcanic aerosols. The replacements runs p3031 are correctly Volcanic forcing only.

In the event that we do multiple versions of any specific forcing we will add another digit: pNMMV (V={0,1,2....}), and explain the difference here and at PCMDI. MM of 10-13 apply only to the interactive model versions (TCAD, TCADI, physics-version={2,3}).

The simulations (using TCADI) denoted by p3001 are continuations from 1991 of the p3 simulations including further updates to the volcanic and solar forcings through to 2012. The volcanic forcings are from a more recent version of the Sato et al. data than used in the historicalExt runs described below.

*Note that the description of the p317 simulations has been corrected. These did not include CH₄ or CFCs.

**Note that the description of the p316 simulations has been corrected. These were without volcanic forcings only, not all aerosols.

Experiment: historicalExt

Extended historical simulations for 2006 to 2012 were archived for many runs, either within the same directory as the years up to 2005, or for some earlier runs, as a specific historicalExt run. The extensions consist of an updated volcanic forcing, updated solar (observed to 2010, and repeats fo 1998 and 1999 for 2011 and 2012 respectively), aerosol emissions/concentrations from RCP45, GHGs as observed to 2012. Note that the volcanic forcing in these extensions was an intermediate version of the updated Sato et al. data.

Experiment: last millennium ("past1000")

The experiments for the Last Millennium are also being archived with multiple forcings, similarly denoted by the physics-version parameter as pNMM, where N is the physics-version as denoted above, and MM are forcings corresponding to the following table:

where the forcings are as defined in Schmidt et al. (2011). Please note that the continuations of these simulations past 1850 to 2005 are stored under the 'historical' simulations (with the same rip tag) if they are not with the 'past1000' directories. Note that the control run will not be the same as for the other 'historical' simulations and aerosol and ozone forcings are slightly different too.

One run p122 had an unreproducable excursion in the middle of the run, for unknown reasons. For consistency we have rerun this simulation (denoted p1221).

Experiment: last glacial maximum ("lgm")

Note that the control for these simulations is pN42 (see below).

There are also multiple pre-industrial control runs:

Experiment: pre-Industrial Control ("picontrol")

GISS-E2-[R/H]-CC Carbon cycle models

Initial experiments with the CC models (i.e. GISS-E2-R/H-CC historical/rcp45 r1i1p1) were run with observed atmospheric concentrations of CO₂ and only with the ocean carbon cycle reacting to climate and atm. pCO₂.

Data Access

Other variations on these themes are possible and can also be accessed.We have posted a local page for some basic analyses of commonly looked at fields available at GISS, but most data will be served via the ESGF. All simulation data from GISS is made available for unrestricted use. Registration is required at ESGF. When searching for GISS data, please ensure that the "Search All Sites" tickbox is checked.

We will endeavour to keep track of the various corrections and known problems with our simulations, which will be listed below. Metadata for these simulations is available via the Metafor CMIP5 documentation project and should be linked from the ESG portal.

If you require any further details on these configurations, please read the submitted papers, or contact us as described below.

Errata and comments

• All zos, zosga and zostoga diagnostics for GISS-E2-H (all physics-versions) were incorrect as originally archived.
• All zostaga in GISS-E2-R are incorrect as originally archived, but have been reprocessed.
• Since zostoga fields are a post-processed diagnostic that uses the integrated freshwater imbalance and the zosga timeseries, there can be discontinuities between distinct runs (i.e. historical and historicalExt and the rcp runs).
• The zostoga fields do not appear to be comparable with estimate of thermosteric changes derived by using changes in temperature and the equation of state. This is being investigated.
• sic fields for GISS-E2-H/R are actually provided on the Atmosphere grid, not the ocean gird.
• volcello fields are not provided for the ocean models since neither of them are volume conserving.
• All RCP simulations (rcp26, rcp45, rcp60, rcp85) using physics_version=1 (NINT) have fixed concentrations of tropospheric ozone and aerosols from 2000 onwards. GHGs and land use follow the RCP scenarios, while stratospheric ozone has an imposed recovery. RCP scenarios for physics_version={2,3} have emission driven changes in all composition fields - including CH₄.
• Some fields in historicalMisc GISS-E2-R r[24]i1p107 are odd in a couple of months: Dec 1920 in r2i1p107, and May 1921 in r4i1p107. We are investigating the cause.
• For r*i1p100/p1 in historicalMisc, the solar forcing is as observed only to the end of 2000, and is a repeated 11 yr cycle subsequently. All other simulations used solar forcing as observed up to the end of 2005 (or to 2010 in the extended simulations, with 1998 and 1999 standing in for 2011 and 2012).
• Due to an oversight, orbital forcing was not included in the historical and RCP p1 (NINT) simulations. These were run with constant 2000 conditions.
• The mrro diagnostic is defined as total runoff, however, only underground runoff was included. To get total runoff, please add mrro to mrros (surface runoff).
• The Gao et al. volcanic forcing prior to 1850 in past1000 simulations p122, p125 and p128 was approximately a factor of 2 larger than intended.
• Relative humidity diagnostics are all relative to liquid saturation.
• p303 (Volanic only) simulations (TCADI) for both GISS-E2-R and GISS-E2-H include anthropogenic aerosol emissions as well by mistake. These have been re-run and are available as p3031.

References

Lee, Y.H., J.R. Pierce, and P.J. Adams, 2013: Representation of nucleation mode microphysics in global aerosol microphysics models. Geosci. Model Dev., 6, 1221-1232, doi:10.5194/gmd-6-1221-2013.

Miller, R.L., G.A. Schmidt, L.S. Nazarenko, N. Tausnev, S.E. Bauer, A.D. Del Genio, M. Kelley, K.K. Lo, R. Ruedy, D.T. Shindell, I. Aleinov, M. Bauer, R. Bleck, V. Canuto, Y. Chen, Y. Cheng, T.L. Clune, G. Faluvegi, J.E. Hansen, R.J. Healy, N.Y. Kiang, D. Koch, A.A. Lacis, A.N. LeGrande, J. Lerner, S. Menon, V. Oinas, C. Perez Garca-Pando, J.P. Perlwitz, M.J. Puma, D. Rind, A. Romanou, G.L. Russell, Mki. Sato, S. Sun, K. Tsigaridis, N. Unger, A. Voulgarakis, M.-S. Yao, and J. Zhang, 2014: CMIP5 historical simulations (1850-2012) with GISS ModelE2. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 6, no. 2, 441-477, doi:10.1002/2013MS000266.

Nazarenko, L., G.A. Schmidt, R.L. Miller, N. Tausnev, M. Kelley, R. Ruedy, G.L. Russell, I. Aleinov, M. Bauer, S. Bauer, R. Bleck, V. Canuto, Y. Cheng, T.L. Clune, A.D. Del Genio, G. Faluvegi, J.E. Hansen, R.J. Healy, N.Y. Kiang, D. Koch, A.A. Lacis, A.N. LeGrande, J. Lerner, K.K. Lo, S. Menon, V. Oinas, J.P. Perlwitz, M.J. Puma, D. Rind, A. Romanou, Mki. Sato, D.T. Shindell, S. Sun, K. Tsigaridis, N. Unger, A. Voulgarakis, M.-S. Yao, and J. Zhang, 2015: Future climate change under RCP emission scenarios with GISS ModelE2. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 7, no. 1, 244-267, doi:10.1002/2014MS000403.

Schmidt, G.A., J.H. Jungclaus, C.M. Ammann, E. Bard, P. Braconnot, T.J. Crowley, G. Delaygue, F. Joos, N.A. Krivova, R. Muscheler, B.L. Otto-Bliesner, J. Pongratz, D.T. Shindell, S.K. Solanki, F. Steinhilber, and L.E.A. Vieira, 2011: Climate forcing reconstructions for use in PMIP simulations of the last millennium (v1.0). Geosci. Model Dev., 4, 33-45, doi:10.5194/gmd-4-33-2011.

Schmidt, G.A., M. Kelley, L. Nazarenko, R. Ruedy, G.L. Russell, I. Aleinov, M. Bauer, S.E. Bauer, M.K. Bhat, R. Bleck, V. Canuto, Y.-H. Chen, Y. Cheng, T.L. Clune, A. Del Genio, R. de Fainchtein, G. Faluvegi, J.E. Hansen, R.J. Healy, N.Y. Kiang, D. Koch, A.A. Lacis, A.N. LeGrande, J. Lerner, K.K. Lo, E.E. Matthews, S. Menon, R.L. Miller, V. Oinas, A.O. Oloso, J.P. Perlwitz, M.J. Puma, W.M. Putman, D. Rind, A. Romanou, Mki. Sato, D.T. Shindell, S. Sun, R.A. Syed, N. Tausnev, K. Tsigaridis, N. Unger, A. Voulgarakis, M.-S. Yao, and J. Zhang, 2014: Configuration and assessment of the GISS ModelE2 contributions to the CMIP5 archive. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 6, no. 1, 141-184, doi:10.1002/2013MS000265

Contact

Please notify us about any additional issues or anomalies that you come across and we will endeavour to deal with them.

Dr. Gavin Schmidt
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
2880 Broadway, New York, NY 10025 USA
gavin.a.schmidt@nasa.gov

+ Return to ModelE Climate Simulations Homepage