03/31/2011
Making Climate Modeling More Computationally Efficient
Summary
The DOE-funded High Order Method Modeling Environment (HOMME), is an important component that has been integrated into the DOE-NSF Community Atmospheric Model version 4 (CAM4). The advantage that HOMME has over the traditional components is that it is highly scalable and more computationally efficient, enabling the model to be run at higher resolutions. DOE climate modelers have now completed the first tests in an aqua-planet configuration. They examined the results to assess their fidelity in the simulation of the mean climatic features with a focus on rainfall, one of the most important features of Earth’s climate system. The comparison has been made with the results from the other two established components of CAM4 run in similar aqua-planet environments. The analysis shows that rainfall is satisfactorily simulated in HOMME. This implies that simulations of climate at centennial time scales at high spatial resolution will now be possible because the computational resources needed to conduct these simulations have been drastically reduced. HOMME in CAM4 will be useful in simulating future climate of extreme events at regional and local scales.
References
Mishra, S. K., M. A. Taylor, R. D. Nair, P. H. Lauritzen, H. M. Tufo, and J. J. Tribbia. 2011. “Evaluation of the HOMME Dynamical Core in the Aqua-Planet Configuration of NCAR CAM4: Rainfall,” Journal of Climate 24, 4037–55. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2011JCLI3860.1.