Publication Abstracts
Cesana and Waliser 2016
, and D.E. Waliser, 2016: Characterizing and understanding systematic biases in the vertical structure of clouds in CMIP5/CFMIP2 models. Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, no. 19, 10538-10546, doi:10.1002/2016GL070515.
From a traditional low-, middle-, and high-cloud "layered" perspective as well as a more detailed "level" perspective (40 levels), we compare the vertical distribution of clouds in 12 general circulation models (GCMs) against the GCM-Oriented Cloud-Aerosols Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations Cloud Product (CALIPSO-GOCCP) using a satellite simulator approach. The layered perspective shows that models exhibit the similar regional biases: an overestimate (underestimate) of high clouds over oceans (continents) in the tropics and a strong underestimate of low clouds over stratocumulus regions. Although high clouds are too infrequent on average, the level perspective reveals that high-level clouds fill too many upper levels of the column when present (geometrically too thick), suggesting an overestimation of the cloud overlap. Compositing by dynamical regimes and large-scale relative humidity shows that the models tend to have too many high-level clouds in moist environments and too few boundary layer clouds in dry environments regardless of dynamical regimes.
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BibTeX Citation
@article{ce09100t,
author={Cesana, G. and Waliser, D. E.},
title={Characterizing and understanding systematic biases in the vertical structure of clouds in CMIP5/CFMIP2 models},
year={2016},
journal={Geophys. Res. Lett.},
volume={43},
number={19},
pages={10538--10546},
doi={10.1002/2016GL070515},
}
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RIS Citation
TY - JOUR ID - ce09100t AU - Cesana, G. AU - Waliser, D. E. PY - 2016 TI - Characterizing and understanding systematic biases in the vertical structure of clouds in CMIP5/CFMIP2 models JA - Geophys. Res. Lett. VL - 43 IS - 19 SP - 10538 EP - 10546 DO - 10.1002/2016GL070515 ER -
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