Automated pointwise feature tracking is used for objective identification and tracking of meteorological features, such as extratropical cyclones, tropical cyclones and tropical easterly waves, and has emerged as an important and desirable data-processing capability in climate science. In the interest of exploring tracking functionality, this paper introduces a framework for the development of robust tracking algorithms that is useful for intercomparison and optimization of tracking schemes.

A new, probabilistic version of an ocean modelling system has been implemented in order to simulate the chaotic and the atmospherically forced contributions to the ocean variability. For that purpose, a large ensemble of global hindcasts has been performed. Results illustrate the importance of the oceanic chaos on climate-related oceanic indices, and the relevance of such probabilistic ocean modelling approaches to anticipating the behaviour of the next generation of coupled climate models.

A data assimilation capability has been built for a chemical weather prediction system, with a focus on mineral dust. Before this work, dust was produced uniquely from model estimated emissions. As emissions are recognized as a major factor limiting the accuracy of dust modelling, satellite observations have been used to improve the description of the atmospheric dust load, with a significant impact on dust forecast from assimilating observations particularly relevant for dust applications.

A joint inversion system is developed for estimating the carbon fluxes in 39 land and 11 ocean regions of the globe using both atmospheric CO₂ and ¹³CO₂ stable isotope data. In particular, a biospheric model is developed to model both CO₂ and ¹³CO₂ fluxes over land to constrain the inversion. Relative to CO₂-only inversion, the joint inversion system improved the partition between land and ocean carbon fluxes and possibly the distribution of the fluxes among land regions as well.

We have developed forward and adjoint models based on NICAM-TM, as part of the 4D-Var system for atmospheric GHGs inversions. The models are computationally efficient enough to make the 4D-Var iterative calculation feasible. Trajectory analysis for high-CO₂ concentration events are performed to test adjoint sensitivities; we also demonstrate the potential usefulness of our adjoint model for diagnosing tracer transport.

Global vegetation models are important tools for understanding how the Earth system will change in the future, and fire is a critical process to include. A number of different methods have been developed to represent vegetation burning. This paper describes the protocol for the first systematic comparison of global fire models, which will allow the community to explore various drivers and evaluate what mechanisms are important for improving performance. It also includes equations for all models.

A simple and complementary model evaluation technique for regional chemistry transport is discussed. The methodology is based on the concept that we can learn about model performance by comparing the simulation results with observational data available for time periods other than the period originally targeted.

HadGEM3-ES is improved, with respect to the previous model, in 10 of the 14 metrics considered. A significant bias in stratospheric water vapour is reduced, allowing more accurate simulation of water vapour and ozone concentrations in the stratosphere. Dynamics are found to influence the spatial structure of the simulated ozone hole and the area of polar stratospheric clouds. This research was carried out as part of involvement in the Chemistry-Climate Model Initiative (CCM-I).

This study shows that alleviating vegetation-caused biases in DEM data, refining channel cross-sectional geometry and Manning roughness coefficients, as well as accounting for backwater effects can effectively improve the modeling of streamflow, river stages and flood extent in the Amazon Basin. The obtained understanding could be helpful to hydrological modeling in basins with evident inundation, which has important implications for improving land–atmosphere interactions in Earth system models.

In this study, we found that the average global methane emission for 2000–2012, estimated by the CTE-CH₄ model, was 516±51 Tg CH₄ yr^-1, and the estimates for 2007–2012 were 4 % larger than for 2000–2006. The model estimates are sensitive to inputs and setups, but according to sensitivity tests the study suggests that the increase in atmospheric methane concentrations during 21st century was due to an increase in emissions from the 35S-EQ latitudinal bands.

This study looks in detail at how well the crop model within the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES), a community land-surface model, is able to simulate irrigated maize in Nebraska. We use the results to point to future priorities for model development and describe how our methodology can be adapted to set up model runs for other sites and crop varieties.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) stock simulated by Earth system models (ESMs) and those of observational databases are not well correlated when the two are compared at fine grid scales. To identify the key factors that govern global SOC distribution, we applied a data-mining scheme to observational databases and outputs from ESMs. This study not only identifies key factors but it also presents a new approach that compares the observational databases with ESM outputs.

The Cloud Explicit Physico-chemical Scheme (CLEPS 1.0) describes oxidation of water-soluble organic compounds resulting from isoprene oxidation. It is based on structure activity relationships (SARs) (global rate constants and branching ratios for HO• abstraction and addition) and GROMHE SAR (Henry's law constants for undocumented species). It is coupled to the MCM gas phase mechanism and is included in a model using the DSMACC model and KPP to analyze experimental and field data.

Three 7 km mesh next-generation global models and a 20 km mesh conventional global model were run to improve tropical cyclone (TC) prediction. The 7 km mesh models reduce systematic errors in the TC track, intensity and wind radii predictions. However, the simulated TC structures and their intensities in each case are very different for each model. These results suggest that the development of more sophisticated initialization techniques and model physics is needed to further improvement.

The Climate SPHINX project is a large set of more than 120 climate simulations run with the EC-Earth global climate. It explores the sensitivity of present-day and future climate to the model horizontal resolution (from 150 km up to 16 km) and to the introduction of two stochastic physics parameterisations. Results shows that the the stochastic schemes can represent a cheaper alternative to a resolution increase, especially for the representation of the tropical climate variability.