Intermediate Complexity Climate Model (ICCM)

An intermediate complexity coupled ocean-atmosphere-land-ice model, based on the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) Flexible Modelling System (FMS), has been developed to study mechanisms of ocean-atmosphere interactions and natural climate variability at interannual to interdecadal and longer time scales.
The model uses the three-dimensional primitive equations for both ocean and atmosphere but is simplified from a `state of the art' coupled model by using simplified atmospheric physics and parameterisation schemes. These simplifications provide considerable savings in computational expense and, perhaps more importantly, allow mechanisms to be investigated more cleanly and thoroughly than with a more elaborate model. For example, the model allows integrations of several millennia as well as broad parameter studies.
For the ocean, the model uses the free surface primitive equations Modular Ocean Model (MOM) and the GFDL/FMS sea-ice model (SIS) is coupled to the oceanic grid. The atmospheric component consists of the FMS B-grid moist primitive equations atmospheric dynamical core with highly simplified physical parameterisations. A simple bucket model is implemented for our idealised land following the GFDL/FMS Land model.
The model is supported within the standard MOM releases as one of its many test cases and the source code is thus freely available.

A documentation paper can be found here: http://www.geosci-model-dev.net/2/73/2009/gmd-2-73-2009.html

1- Basin Configuration

ICCM Publications

4- Farneti, R. and G. K. Vallis (2010), Meridional energy transport in the coupled atmosphere-ocean system: Variability and compensation, J. Climate, To be Submitted.

3- Farneti, R. and G. K. Vallis (2009c), Mechanisms of interdecadal climate variability and the role of ocean-atmosphere coupling, Climate Dyn., DOI 10.1007/s00382-009-0674-9. Published online 14 October 2009.

2- Vallis, G. K. and R. Farneti (2009b), Meridional energy transport in the coupled atmosphere-ocean system: Scaling and numerical experiments, Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 135, 1643-1660.

1- Farneti, R. and G. K. Vallis (2009a), An Intermediate Complexity Climate Model (ICCMp1) based on the GFDL Flexible Modelling System, Geosci. Model Dev., 2, 1, 73-88.

2- Global Configuration

Experiments with several idealized global configurations are underway . Preliminary results will be posted soon.




Last updated by rif:(11/09/2009)