Chen, B., D. Bromwich, K. Hines, X. Pan, 1995: Simulations
of the 1979-1988 polar climates by global climate models. Annals of
Glaciology,
21, 117-122.
The simulation of the northern and southern polar climates for 1979
- 1988 by fourteen global climate models (GCMs), using the observed monthly
averaged sea surface temperatures and sea ice extents as boundary conditions,
is a part of an international effort to determine the systematic errors
of atmospheric models under realistic conditions, the socalled Atmospheric
Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP). In this study, intercomparison of
the models' simulation of polar climate is discussed in terms of selected
surface and vertically integrated monthly averaged quantities, such as
sealevel pressure, cloudiness, precipitable water, precipitation, and evaporation/sublimation.
The results suggest that the accuracy of model simulated climate features
in high latitudes primarily depends on the horizontal resolution and the
treatment of physical processes in the GCMs. AMIP offers an unprecedented
opportunity for the comprehensive evaluation and validation of current
atmospheric models and provides valuable information for model improvement.
This research was supported by Office of Polar Programs of National
Science Foundation and National Aeronautics and Space Administration