An European Integrating Project for research and development in Earth System Models (ESMs), for the production of scenario simulations.
4 years from 01/05/2009 to 01/04/2013
http://www.combine-project.eu/
General aims
- To improve Earth system models by incorporating additional processes and representing more Earth system parameters. The processes selected for this project represent: C- and N-cycle; aerosols coupled with clouds and chemistry; stratospheric dynamics and increased resolution, and ice sheets, sea ice and permafrost for the cryosphere.
- To improve initialisation and error correction schemes for decadal climate predictions.
- To use the Earth system models for decadal climate prediction and climate projection experiments following the protocols of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project for IPCC AR5 simulations.
- To understand and quantify how single or combined new process components influence different climate feedbacks and the magnitude of projected climate change in the 21st century.
- To understand how the initialisation by itself or initialisation combined with improved process components or improved resolution can reduce the uncertainty in decadal climate prediction.
- To analyze projected climate change in three different climate regions: the Arctic, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Amazon basin; where different feedbacks are important. To analyse effects of selected new components in each region. To test if high spatial resolution has significant influence on strength of feedbacks.
- Quantify the impacts in two sectors: water availability and agriculture, globally and within the regions, and analyze the effect of selected new components on these impacts.
- Use Earth system models to find CO2 emissions that are compatible with representative concentration scenarios specified for IPCC AR5 climate projections, and use an integrated assessment model to revise the scenarios accordingly.
- Contribute to IPCC AR5 by relevant research and by disseminating climate prediction and projection data to IPCC data archives.
CMCC Role
COMBINE is an European Integrating Project for research and development in Earth System Models (ESMs), and the production of scenario simulations. The Project brings together research groups to advance the ESMs for more accurate climate projections and for reduced uncertainty in the prediction of climate and climate change in the next decades by incorporating key physical and biogeochemical processes. The ANS division of the CMCC is involved in the areas of increased resolution, stratospheric dynamics, and the development of initialization techniques. These activities aim to the improvement of the CMCC ESM, the production of decadal prediction simulations, and the production of centennial scenario simulations with the carbon cycle.
Activity
- WP3 Stratosphere: Incorporate a well-resolved dynamical stratosphere in the CMCC ESM, and run historical simulaton.
- WP5 Initialization: Development of improved initialization techniques and ocean analysis.
- WP6 Climate prediction: Production and analysis of decadal prediction and predictability runs.
- WP7 Climate projections and feedbacks: Production and analysis of centennial scenarios simulations with the carbon cycle.
Partners
- MPG - Max Planck Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Wissenschaften E.V.
- METO - Met Office Hadley Center
- CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- CNRS - Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Geophysique de l'Environment (LGGE)
- CMCC - Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change
- MF-CNRM - Météo France - Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques
- KNMI - Het Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorologisch Instituut
- UiB - Universitetet i Bergen (UiB)
- DMI - Danmarks Meteorologiske Institut
- ECMWF - European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
- ETHZ - Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
- FMI - Finnish Meteorological Institute- Ilmatieteen Laitos
- PBL - Planbureau voor de leefomgeving
- SMHI - Sveriges Meteorologiska och Hydrologiska Institut
- WU - Wageningen University & Research Centre
- UHEL - Helsingin yliopistou
- UCL - Université Catolique de Louvain - Institut d'Astronomie et de géophysique Georges Lemaître
- UNIBRIS - University of Bristol
- University of Kassel - Center for Environmental Systems Research (CESR)
- TUC - Technical University of Crete
- CYI - Cyprus research and Education Foundation
- INPE - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espacias