An overview of BCC climate system model development and application for climate change studies

Tongwen Wu (1) , Lianchun Song (1) , Weiping Li (1) , Zaizhi Wang (1) , Hua Zhang (1) , Xiaoge Xin (1) , Yanwu Zhang (1) , Li Zhang (1) , Jianglong Li (1) , Fanghua Wu (1) , Yiming Liu (1) , Fang Zhang (1) , Xueli Shi (1) , Min Chu (1) , Jie Zhang (1) , Yongjie Fang (1) , Fang Wang (1) , Yixiong Lu (1) , Xiangwen Liu (1) , Min Wei (2) , Qianxia Liu (1) , Wenyan Zhou (1) , Min Dong (1) , Qigeng Zhao (1) , Jinjun Ji (1) , Laurent Li (3, 1) , Mingyu Zhou (1, 4)

1 CMA - China Meteorological Administration
2 National Meteorological Information Center
3 LMD - Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539)
4 National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center

This paper reviews recent progress in the development of the Beijing Climate Center Climate System Model (BCC_CSM) and its four component models (atmosphere, land surface, ocean, and sea ice). Two recent versions are described: BCC_CSM1.1 with coarse resolution (approximately 2.8125°×2.8125°) and BCC_CSM1.1(m) with moderate resolution (approximately 1.125°×1.125°). Both versions are fully coupled climate-carbon cycle models that simulate the global terrestrial and oceanic carbon cycles and include dynamic vegetation. Both models well simulate the concentration and temporal evolution of atmospheric CO2 during the 20th century with anthropogenic CO2 emissions prescribed. Simulations using these two versions of the BCC_CSM model have been contributed to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase five (CMIP5) in support of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). These simulations are available for use by both national and international communities for investigating global climate change and for future climate projections. Simulations of the 20th century climate using BCC_CSM1.1 and BCC_CSM1.1(m) are presented and validated, with particular focus on the spatial pattern and seasonal evolution of precipitation and surface air temperature on global and continental scales. Simulations of climate during the last millennium and projections of climate change during the next century are also presented and discussed. Both BCC_CSM1.1 and BCC_CSM1.1(m) perform well when compared with other CMIP5 models. Preliminary analyses indicate that the higher resolution in BCC_CSM1.1(m) improves the simulation of mean climate relative to BCC_CSM1.1, particularly on regional scales.

Domains: Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Earth Sciences; Climatology

Tongwen Wu, Lianchun Song, Weiping Li, Zaizhi Wang, Hua Zhang, et al.. An overview of BCC climate system model development and application for climate change studies. Journal of Meteorological Research , 2014, 28 (1), pp.34-36. ⟨10.1007/s13351-014-3041-7⟩. ⟨hal-01082604⟩