Numerical weather prediction models rely on parameterizations for sub-grid-scale processes, which are a source of uncertainty. We present novel visual analytics solutions to analyze interactively the sensitivities of a selected prognostic variable to multiple model parameters along trajectories regarding similarities in temporal development and spatiotemporal relationships. The proposed workflow is applied to cloud microphysical sensitivities along coherent strongly ascending trajectories.

While biogeochemical models and satellite-derived ocean color data provide unprecedented information, it is problematic to compare them. Here, we present a new approach based on comparing probability density distributions of model and satellite properties to assess model skills. We also introduce Earth mover's distances as a novel and powerful metric to quantify the misfit between models and observations. We find that how 3D chlorophyll fields are aggregated can be a significant source of error.

To enable the direct feedback effects of aerosols and local meteorology in an air quality modeling system without any computational bottleneck, we have developed an inline meteorology-induced emissions coupler module within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Community Multiscale Air Quality modeling system to dynamically model the complex MOtor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES) on-road mobile emissions inline without a separate dedicated emissions processing model like SMOKE.

To improve the long-term forecast skill for sea ice extent (SIE), we introduce IceTFT, which directly predicts 12 months of averaged Arctic SIE. The results show that IceTFT has higher forecasting skill. We conducted a sensitivity analysis of the variables in the IceTFT model. These sensitivities can help researchers study the mechanisms of sea ice development, and they also provide useful references for the selection of variables in data assimilation or the input of deep learning models.

Wildfire is a crucial factor in carbon and water fluxes on the Earth system. About 2.1 Pg of carbon is released into the atmosphere by wildfires annually. Because the fire processes are still limitedly represented in land surface models, we forced the daily GFED4 burned area into the land surface model over Alaska and Siberia. The results with the GFED4 burned area significantly improved the simulated carbon emissions and net ecosystem exchange compared to the default simulation.

Using all Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) models is unfeasible for many applications. We provide a subselection protocol that balances user needs for model independence, performance, and spread capturing CMIP’s projection uncertainty simultaneously. We show how sets of three to five models selected for European applications map to user priorities. An audit of model independence and its influence on equilibrium climate sensitivity uncertainty in CMIP is also presented.

The Earth's atmosphere can support various types of global-scale waves. Some waves propagate eastward and others westward, and they can have different zonal wavenumbers. The Fourier–wavelet analysis is a useful technique for identifying different components of global-scale waves and their temporal variability. This paper introduces an easy-to-implement method to derive Fourier–wavelet spectra from 2-D space–time data. Application examples are presented using atmospheric models.

Water in natural environments consists of many ions. Ions are electrically charged and exert electric forces on each other. We discuss whether the electric forces are relevant in describing mixing and reaction processes in natural environments. By comparing our computer simulations to lab experiments in literature, we show that the electric interactions between ions can play an essential role in mixing and reaction processes, in which case they should not be neglected in numerical modeling.

We have built a tool called CHEEREIO that allows scientists to use observations of pollutants or gases in the atmosphere, such as from satellites or surface stations, to update supercomputer models that simulate the Earth. CHEEREIO uses the difference between the model simulations of the atmosphere and real-world observations to come up with a good guess for the actual composition of our atmosphere, the true emissions of various pollutants, and whatever else they may want to study.

Regional climate models are a fundamental tool for a very large number of applications and are being increasingly used within climate services, together with other complementary approaches. Here, we introduce a new regional coupled model, intended to be later extended to a full Earth system model, for climate investigations within the Mediterranean region, coupled data assimilation experiments, and several downscaling exercises (reanalyses and long-range predictions).

A framework was developed to automatically detect plumes and compute emission estimates with cross-sectional flux method (CFM) for biomass burning events in TROPOMI CO datasets using Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite active fire data. The emissions were more reliable when changing plume height in downwind direction was used instead of constant injection height. The CFM had uncertainty even when the meteorological conditions were accurate; thus there is a need for better inversion models.

ModE-Sim is an ensemble of simulations with an atmosphere model. It uses observed sea surface temperatures, sea ice conditions, and volcanic aerosols for 1420 to 2009 as model input while accounting for uncertainties in these conditions. This generates several representations of the possible climate given these preconditions. Such a setup can be useful to understand the mechanisms that contribute to climate variability. This paper describes the setup of ModE-Sim and evaluates its performance.

Machine learning models have gained great popularity in air quality prediction. However, they are only available at air quality monitoring stations. In contrast, chemical transport models (CTM) provide predictions that are continuous in the 3D field. Owing to complex error sources, they are typically biased. In this study, we proposed a gridded prediction with high accuracy by fusing predictions from our regional feature selection machine learning prediction (RFSML v1.0) and a CTM prediction.

This paper assesses the biogeochemical model REcoM3 coupled to the ocean–sea ice model FESOM2.1. The model can be used to simulate the carbon uptake or release of the ocean on timescales of several hundred years. A detailed analysis of the nutrients, ocean productivity, and ecosystem is followed by the carbon cycle. The main conclusion is that the model performs well when simulating the observed mean biogeochemical state and variability and is comparable to other ocean–biogeochemical models.