Down-and-dirty details of climate modeling

May 4, 2011

Down-and-dirty details of climate modeling

Enlarge

Researchers at PNNL have embedded a high-resolution model within each grid of a global climate model for a new way to account for the effects of small pollution particles.

For the first time, researchers have developed a comprehensive approach to look at aerosols—those fine particles found in pollution—and their effect on clouds and climate. Scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory improved how aerosols are accounted for in a global climate model used to predict climate change by embedding a high-resolution model in each climate grid. The embedded model replaces parameterization, a simplified method currently used to reckon small-scale climate processes. The new integrated approach brings the small scale to the global scale, for more effective climate modeling. 

Advancing our ability to predict global depends on accurate modeling of climate forces across all scales. Though current global circulation models, used to predict climate change, can represent large-scale atmospheric features (greater than 100 kilometers, or about 62 miles), smaller-scale processes can only be parameterized. But details in the smaller sizes are important to follow. Features such as , , and pollution point sources can have a big impact on global climate. Accounting for small features, such as the effect of pollution aerosols on clouds, will help scientists better predict climate change to plan for a sustainable future. This study gives climate researchers a valuable tool for those important predictions.

For this study, researchers from PNNL and the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., built PNNL-MMF, an extension of a multi-scale modeling framework that has been used since 2001. They embedded a cloud-resolving model (CRM) within each grid cell to specifically look at aerosol-cloud interactions for the first time.

Using the cloud and aerosol properties statistics from the CRM, scientists can account for aerosol effects on clouds and clouds' effects on aerosols—the two facets of cloud-aerosol interaction. Unlike other models, the PNNL-MMF accounts for simulation of aerosol-cloud interactions in both stratiform and convective clouds on the global scale, using new mathematical formulas. Using this method, the team has simulated aerosol-cloud interactions that are consistent with observational data and conventional aerosol models.

Now that researchers have developed the model and completed its preliminary testing, they are using the model to unravel the complex role that pollution aerosols play in a changing .

More information: Wang M, S Ghan, et al. "The multi-scale aerosol-climate model PNNL-MMF: model description and evaluation," Geosci. Model Dev., 4, 137-168, doi:10.5194/gmd-4-137-2011 , 2011.

Provided by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory search and more info website

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

ILIAD
May 04, 2011

Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
problem solved! We can now rely on the weather channel to give accurate information :-)

btw, wont too many windmills affect the weather and migratory birds?
GSwift7
May 06, 2011

Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
to ILIAD:

We can now rely on the weather channel


The weather channel doesn't use global climate models.

If they truely have improved the results versus the parameterization method then this is good. They don't really say how the new results compare to the previous version. It's possible that the parameterization was quite good, and a more complicated model can be less accurate than a simple one sometimes. If they are seeing better results then this is a big step in the right direction though. Every parameterization they can eliminate is a good thing. Next on the list: air/ocean interface, biochemical, precipitation, land use, ocean cycles, etc. Still plenty of parameters to go after.
Rank 5 /5 (4 votes)
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

SpaceX capsule has 'new car' smell, astronauts say (Update)

SpaceX's Dragon cargo vessel smells like a new car, said astronauts at the International Space Station after opening the hatches Saturday following the spacecraft's landmark mission to the orbiting lab.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created 22 hours ago | popularity 4.5 / 5 (20) | comments 2

Australia hails surprise super-telescope decision

Australia has hailed a surprise decision giving it a role in a radio telescope project aimed at revolutionising astronomy, vowing to draw on its decades of experience in space science.

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created 22 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 2

Astronomers seize last chance in lifetime for Venus Transit

Astronomers are gearing for one the rarest events in the Solar System: an alignment of Earth, Venus and the Sun that will not be seen for another 105 years.

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created 22 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 2

Astronauts enter world's 1st private supply ship

(AP) -- Space station astronauts floated into the Dragon on Saturday, a day after its heralded arrival as the world's first commercial supply ship.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created 22 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0

Sophisticated simulations predict future warming

The chances of our planet being hit by a global warming of 3 degrees Celsius by 2050 is as likely as it being hit by an increase of 1.4 degrees, new research shows. Presented in the journal Nature Geoscience, the British study ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created May 22, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (9) | comments 51


Browser wars flare in mobile space

The browser wars are heating up again, but this time the fight is for dominance of the mobile Internet.

Nvidia trumpets Tegra 3 phone design wins for 2012

(Phys.org) -- Nvidia’s competitive war paint has a name, Tegra 3. On the heels of Nvidia announcements about lowering costs of its Tegra 3 processors and Nvidia-enabled tablets running Android Ice Cream ...

Scientist: Evolution debate will soon be history

(AP) -- Richard Leakey predicts skepticism over evolution will soon be history. Not that the avowed atheist has any doubts himself.

Dell tablet leak: 10.1-inch display, two-battery choice

(Phys.org) -- Headline after headline talks about vendors’ tablets in the wings as likely number-one contenders for the iPad. Such claims have justifiably been taken with a grain of salt, considering ...

SpotterRF debuts Radar Backpack Kit (w/ Video)

(Phys.org) -- SpotterRF has announced a special radar backpack kit designed to enhance situational awareness for soldiers on the ground. The company says its special radar is designed for warfighters as part ...

Thousands of shellfish found dead in Peru

Thousands of crustaceans were found dead off the coast of Lima following the mystery mass death of dolphins and pelicans, the Peruvian Navy said Friday.