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Description of Research
In 2003 the GMAO was established to develop
comprehensive modeling and assimilation
capabilities in order to fully exploit NASA
satellite measurements of Earth’s climate and
weather systems. An important component of
the GMAO’s mission is to develop a single
atmospheric model suitable for data
assimilation, weather forecasting as well as
coupled and uncoupled climate simulation, with
minimal empirical “retuning” for different
applications. Parameterization of subgrid-scale
atmospheric physics will be critical to the
success of this modeling effort. The next 5-10
years will see global climate models running
routinely with grid spacings of 10 to 50 km.
This resolution range presents special challenges
to a number of the parameterization schemes,
since most convective and cloud scale motions
are still poorly resolved, yet clear scale
separation between them and the model grid
scale no longer exists. The bulk of this year’s
research effort focused on the global behavior of
precipitation and cloud structures in the
atmosphere, and their relationship to background
meteorology.
Accomplishments during the Reporting Period
This reporting period was characterized by a
shift in focus for the GMAO modeling group.
Model development for NASA’s Modern Era
Reanalysis for Research and Applications
(MERRA) project was completed in early 2008.
The MERRA project is now well underway and
is expected to finish in summer 2009. Physics
development on GEOS-5 during the last year
was aimed at improving performance in coupled
and un-coupled climate simulations and towards
understanding and improving the behavior of
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CODE 610.1
Task 971-00-002: Parameterized physics development for GEOS-5, the Global Modeling and
Assimilation Office (GMAO) Atmospheric General Circulation Model
GEST Investigator: Julio T. Bacmeister
Collaborators: Max J. Suarez and Siegfried Schubert, Code 610.1, NASA/GFSC; Wei-Kuo Tao,
Code 613, NASA/GSFC; F. Robertson, Timothy Miller NASA/MSFC; Atanas
Trayanov, Lawrence Takacs, SAIC; In-Sun Song, Sarith Mahanama, Toshihisa
Matsui, Peter Norris, Andrea Molod, GEST; Jadwiga Beres-Richter, NCAR;
Stephen Eckermann, NRL/Washington
physics parameterization in high-resolution (grid
spacing