Geoscientific Model Development
Geoscientific Model Development
Geoscientific Model Development
Articles | Volume 8, issue 1
Articles | Volume 8, issue 1
Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 43–49, 2015
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-43-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Special issue: The Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP):...

Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 43–49, 2015
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-43-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Articles | Volume 8, issue 1

Model experiment description paper 15 Jan 2015

Model experiment description paper | 15 Jan 2015

A new Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) experiment designed for climate and chemistry models

S. Tilmes1, M. J. Mills1, U. Niemeier2, H. Schmidt2, A. Robock3, B. Kravitz4, J.-F. Lamarque1, G. Pitari5, and J. M. English6 S. Tilmes et al.
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  • 1National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA
  • 2Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany
  • 3Department of Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
  • 4Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, USA
  • 5Department of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Università L'Aquila, 67010 Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy
  • 6University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Received: 12 Jul 2014 – Discussion started: 12 Aug 2014 – Revised: 08 Dec 2014 – Accepted: 09 Dec 2014 – Published: 15 Jan 2015

Abstract. A new Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) experiment "G4 specified stratospheric aerosols" (short name: G4SSA) is proposed to investigate the impact of stratospheric aerosol geoengineering on atmosphere, chemistry, dynamics, climate, and the environment. In contrast to the earlier G4 GeoMIP experiment, which requires an emission of sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the model, a prescribed aerosol forcing file is provided to the community, to be consistently applied to future model experiments between 2020 and 2100. This stratospheric aerosol distribution, with a total burden of about 2 Tg S has been derived using the ECHAM5-HAM microphysical model, based on a continuous annual tropical emission of 8 Tg SO2 yr−1. A ramp-up of geoengineering in 2020 and a ramp-down in 2070 over a period of 2 years are included in the distribution, while a background aerosol burden should be used for the last 3 decades of the experiment. The performance of this experiment using climate and chemistry models in a multi-model comparison framework will allow us to better understand the impact of geoengineering and its abrupt termination after 50 years in a changing environment. The zonal and monthly mean stratospheric aerosol input data set is available at https://www2.acd.ucar.edu/gcm/geomip-g4-specified-stratospheric-aerosol-data-set.

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How to cite. Tilmes, S., Mills, M. J., Niemeier, U., Schmidt, H., Robock, A., Kravitz, B., Lamarque, J.-F., Pitari, G., and English, J. M.: A new Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) experiment designed for climate and chemistry models, Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 43–49, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-43-2015, 2015.
Special issue
The Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP):...
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Short summary
A new Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) experiment “G4 specified stratospheric aerosols” (G4SSA) is proposed to investigate the impact of stratospheric aerosol geoengineering on atmosphere, chemistry, dynamics, climate, and the environment. In contrast to the earlier G4 GeoMIP experiment, which requires an emission of sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the model, a prescribed aerosol forcing file is provided to the community, to be consistently applied to future model experiments.
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