The Beijing Climate Center Climate System Model (BCC-CSM): the main progress from CMIP5 to CMIP6

• Published in: Geoscientific Model Development 2019-04, Vol.12 (4), p.1573-1600
• Main Authors: Wu, Tongwen, Lu, Yixiong, Fang, Yongjie, Xin, Xiaoge, Li, Laurent, Li, Weiping, Jie, Weihua, Zhang, Jie, Liu, Yiming, Zhang, Li, Zhang, Fang, Zhang, Yanwu, Wu, Fanghua, Li, Jianglong, Chu, Min, Wang, Zaizhi, Shi, Xueli, Liu, Xiangwen, Wei, Min, Huang, Anning, Zhang, Yaocun, Liu, Xiaohong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air temperature; Annual variations; Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC); Atmospheric circulation; Atmospheric models; Climate; Climate change; Climate models; Climate system; Climate variability; Climate variations; Climatology; Computer simulation; Diurnal cycle; Diurnal variations; Earth Sciences; Energy budget; Evaluation; Global temperatures; Global warming; Ice cover; Interannual variations; Intercomparison; Madden-Julian oscillation; Precipitation; Quasi-biennial oscillation; Sciences of the Universe; Sea ice; Sea ice thickness; Sea surface; Sea surface temperature; Stratospheric warming; Surface temperature; Surface-air temperature relationships; Temperature; Temperature effects; Tropical climate
• ISSN: 1991-9603; 1991-959X; 1991-962X; 1991-9603; 1991-962X; 1991-959X
• DOI: 10.5194/gmd-12-1573-2019

The main advancements of the Beijing Climate Center (BCC) climate system model from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) to phase 6 (CMIP6) are presented, in terms of physical parameterizations and model performance. BCC-CSM1.1 and BCC-CSM1.1m are the two models involved in CMIP5, whereas BCC-CSM2-MR, BCC-CSM2-HR, and BCC-ESM1.0 are the three models configured for CMIP6. Historical simulations from 1851 to 2014 from BCC-CSM2-MR (CMIP6) and from 1851 to 2005 from BCC-CSM1.1m (CMIP5) are used for models assessment. The evaluation matrices include the following: (a) the energy budget at top-of-atmosphere; (b) surface air temperature, precipitation, and atmospheric circulation for the global and East Asia regions; (c) the sea surface temperature (SST) in the tropical Pacific; (d) sea-ice extent and thickness and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC); and (e) climate variations at different timescales, such as the global warming trend in the 20th century, the stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO), and the diurnal cycle of precipitation. Compared with BCC-CSM1.1m, BCC-CSM2-MR shows significant improvements in many aspects including the tropospheric air temperature and circulation at global and regional scales in East Asia and climate variability at different timescales, such as the QBO, the MJO, the diurnal cycle of precipitation, interannual variations of SST in the equatorial Pacific, and the long-term trend of surface air temperature.