Paper: Hopcroft and Valdes 2014

Title: Last glacial maximum constraints on the Earth System Model HadGEM2-ES

For a fuller description of the paper itself, go to the end of this web page.

Each simulation published in this paper corresponds to a unique 5 or 6 character code on the web pages.
The following table lists the name of the simulation as used in the paper, and the corresponding code name

The webpage gives you the ability to examine the published simulations, but you can also download the raw (netcdf) files to perform your own analysis. Detailed instructions on how to use the webpages and access the data can be found here: Using_BRIDGE_webpages.pdf

There are a lot of simulations used in this paper because we used an ensemble physics approach. So there is a mixture of these, plus special simulations

You can have make you own analysis and plots by going here

Simulation Name as in PaperSimulation name on web pages
PI HadGEM2-A with dynamic vegetationxgliv
LGM HadGEM2-A with dynamic vegetationxgliu
PI HadGEM2-A with fixed modern vegetationxgseu
LGM HadGEM2-A with fixed modern vegetationxgsew
PI HadGEM2-A with veg prescribed from HadCM3M2xgsez
LGM HadGEM2-A with veg prescribed from HadCM3M2xgsex
PI HadGEM2-A dynamic vegetation with HadCM3M2 model parametersxjlaj
LGM HadGEM2-A dynamic vegetation with HadCM3M2 model parametersxjlai
PI HadGEM2-A optimal tunedxjlah
LGM HadGEM2-A optimal tunedxjlag


This is a fuller description of paper

This paper demonstrates an example of improving an Earth System model by confronting it with reconstructions of LGM environmental conditions. Specifically we document improvements made to the dynamic vegetation scheme which have major impacts on the resultant LGM climate and dust cycle.

NameHopcroft and Valdes
Brief DescriptionThis paper demonstrates an example of improving an Earth System model by confronting it with reconstructions of LGM environmental conditions. Specifically we document improvements made to the dynamic vegetation scheme which have major impacts on the resultant LGM climate and dust cycle.
Full Author ListPeter O. Hopcroft and Paul J. Valdes
TitleLast glacial maximum constraints on the Earth System Model HadGEM2-ES
Year2014
JournalClimate Dynamics
Volume
Issue
Pages
DOI10.1007/s00382-014-2421-0
Contact's NamePeter O. Hopcroft
Contact's emailpeter.hopcroft@bristol.ac.uk
AbstractWe investigate the response of the atmospheric and land surface components of the CMIP5/AR5 Earth System model HadGEM2-ES to pre-industrial (PI: AD 1860) and last glacial maximum (LGM: 21 kyr) boundary conditions. HadGEM2-ES comprises atmosphere, ocean and sea-ice components which are interactively coupled to representations of the carbon cycle, aerosols including mineral dust and tropospheric chemistry. In this study, we focus on the atmosphere-only model HadGEM2-A coupled to terrestrial carbon cycle, and aerosol models. This configuration is forced with monthly sea surface temperature and sea-ice fields from equivalent coupled simulations with an older version of the Hadley Centre model, HadCM3. HadGEM2-A simulates extreme cooling over northern continents and nearly complete die back of vegetation in Asia, giving a poor representation of the LGM environment compared with reconstructions of surface temperatures and biome distributions. The model also performs significantly worse for the LGM in comparison with its precursor AR4 model HadCM3M2. Detailed analysis shows that the major factor behind the vegetation die off in HadGEM2-A is a subtle change to the temperature dependence of leaf mortality within the phenology model of HadGEM2. This impacts on both snow-vegetation albedo and vegetation dynamics. A new set of parameters is tested for both the preindustrial and LGM, showing much improved coverage of vegetation in both time periods, including an improved representation of the needle-leaf forest coverage in Siberia for the pre-industrial. The new parameters and the resulting changes in global vegetation distribution strongly impact the simulated loading of mineral dust, an important aerosol for the LGM. The climate response in an abrupt 4× pre-industrial CO2 simulation is also analysed and shows modest regional impacts on surface temperatures across the Boreal zone.