SGER: Coupling a Slab Ocean and Sea Ice Model to the Community Atmosphere Model

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The PI will develop a simplified version (a slab rather than full ocean component) of the Community Climate System Model (CCSM). She will study its equilibrium climate sensitivity. In practice, a slab ocean model is highly intertwined with the sea ice formulation, and the PI has been at the forefront of the CCSM sea-ice component development and application.She has started this work and has made much progress to arrive at a working model. This grant will enable her to continue with the slab ocean model development and play an active role in maintaining the sea ice models that she helped build for the CCSM. She will also use the slab ocean model coupled to the CCSM atmospheric component to explicitly measure the sensitivity of the simulated climate to sea ice feedbacks.An immediate need for this work was expressed at the June, 2002 CCSM workshop and subsequently endorsed by the CCSM Scientific Advisory Committee.The scientific merit of this project is to evaluate how feedbacks associated with sea ice thermodynamics contribute to climate sensitivity, an important issue in the debate about global warming.The broader impact of this project is to provide a new functionality for the community of CCSM users. Also, this development effort will strengthen ties between NCAR and the university community.