For the first time in the history of climate modelling, it is becoming possible to run multi-year climate simulations with a global atmospheric model that has a horizontal resolution of a few kilometers.
It is thus finally possible to assess important open questions about the role of km-scale processes in climate change.
This project proposes to use LUMI-G to study the response of the atmosphere to increased CO2 concentrations and global warming with the ICON Global Storm-Resolving Model (GSRM) used at a km-scale resolution (1.25 km). In addition to addressing long-standing open questions on climate change, we will seek to understand how the simulated climate response evolves as this resolution is approached by running simulations at resolutions ranging from 1.25 km to 20 km.
In all simulations, the sea surface temperature will be prescribed, which will guarantee that the basic response of clouds, winds and precipitation to increased CO2 and surface warming can be assessed with simulations shorter than a few years.
Beyond the exa-scale computational challenge that this project represents, the simulations will feed several ongoing H2020 European Projects such as CONSTRAIN or NextGEMS, and other international activities related to the understanding of atmospheric processes and climate change.
Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Germany;
Stockholm University, Sweden;
CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), France.