Finding ocean states that are consistent with observations from a perturbed physics parameter ensemble

Journal article

A very large ensemble is used to identify subgrid-scale parameter settings for the HadCM3 model that are capable of best simulating the ocean state over the recent past (1980–2010). A simple particle filtering technique based upon the agreement of basin mean sea surface temperature (SST) and upper 700-m ocean heat content with EN3 observations is applied to an existing perturbed physics ensemble with initial conditions perturbations. A single set of subgrid-scale parameter values was identified from the wide range of initial parameter sets that gave the best agreement with ocean observations for the period studied. The parameter set, different from the standard model parameters, has a transient climate response of 1.68 K. The selected parameter set shows an improved agreement with EN3 decadal-mean SST patterns and the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) at 26°N as measured by the Rapid Climate Change (RAPID) array. Particle filtering techniques as demonstrated here could have a useful role in improving the starting point for traditional model-tuning exercises in coupled climate models.

Authors: Sparrow, S; Millar, R; Yamazaki, K; Massey, N; Povey, A

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Meterological Society
• Journal: Journal of Climate
• Volume: 31
• Issue: 12
• Pages: 4639–4656
• Publication date: 2018-05-18
• Acceptance date: 2018-03-06
• DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-17-0514.1
• EISSN: 1520-0442
• ISSN: 0894-8755
• Keywords: meridional overturning circulation; ensembles; climate models; coupled models; filtering techniques