An introduction to the coupled model FGOALS1.1-s and its performance in East Asia

Abstract

The spectral version 1.1 of the Flexible Global Ocean-atmosphere-land System (FGOALS1. 1-s) model was developed in the State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (LASG/IAP). This paper reports the major modifications to the physical parameterization package in its atmospheric component, including the radiation scheme, convection scheme, and cloud scheme. Furthermore, the simulation of the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) by FGOALS1. 1-s is examined, both in terms of climatological mean state and interannual variability. The results indicate that FGOALS1. 1-s exhibits significant improvements in the simulation of the balance of energy at the top of the atmosphere: the net radiative energy flux at the top was 0.003 W m-2 in the 40 years fully coupled integration. The distribution of simulated sea surface temperature was also quite reasonable, without obvious climate drift. FGOALS1. 1-s is also capable of capturing the major features of the climatological mean state of the EASM: major rainfall maximum centers, the annual cycle of precipitation, and the lower-level monsoon circulation flow were highly consistent with observations in the EASM region. Regarding interannual variability, simulation of the EASM leading patterns and their relationship with sea surface temperature was examined. The results show that FGOALS1. 1-s can reproduce the first leading pattern of the EASM and its close relationship with the decaying phase of the ENSO. However, the model lacked the ability to capture either the second major mode of the EASMor its relationship with the developing phase of the ENSO. © 2010 Chinese National Committee for International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Science Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.