Application of the Pseudo-Global Warming Approach in a
Kilometer-Resolution Climate Simulation of the Tropics
Abstract
Clouds over tropical oceans are an important factor in Earth’s response
to increased greenhouse gas concentrations, but their representation in
climate models is challenging due to the small-scale nature of the
involved convective processes. We perform two 4-year-long simulations at
kilometer-resolution (3.3 km horizontal grid spacing) with the
limited-area model COSMO over the tropical Atlantic on a 9000x7000 km2
domain: A control simulation under current climate conditions driven by
the ERA5 reanalysis, and a climate change scenario simulation using the
Pseudo-Global Warming (PGW) approach. We compare these results to the
changes projected in the CMIP6 scenario ensemble. We find a good
representation of the annual cycle of albedo, in particular for
trade-wind clouds, even compared to the ERA5 reanalysis. Also, the
vertical structure and annual cycle of the marine intertropical
convergence zone (ITCZ) is accurately simulated, and the simulation does
not suffer from the double ITCZ problem commonly present in global
climate models (GCMs). The ITCZ responds to warming through a vertical
extension and intensification primarily at high levels, as well as a
slight southward extension of the annual mean ITCZ, while the narrowing
typically seen in GCMs is not visible.