PMIP4-CMIP6: the contribution of the Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project to CMIP6

Masa Kageyama, Pascale Braconnot, Sandy P. Harrison, Alan M. Haywood, Johann Jungclaus, Bette L. Otto-bliesner, Jean-yves Peterschmitt, Ayako Abe-ouchi, Samuel Albani, Patrick J. Bartlein, Chris Brierley, Michel Crucifix, Aisling Dolan, Laura Fernandez-donado, Hubertus Fischer, Peter O. Hopcroft, Ruza F. Ivanovic, Fabrice Lambert, Dan J. Lunt, Natalie M. MahowaldW. Richard Peltier, Steven J. Phipps, Didier M. Roche, Gavin A. Schmidt, Lev Tarasov, Paul J. Valdes, Qiong Zhang, Tianjun Zhou

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The goal of the Palaeoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project (PMIP) is to understand the response of the climate system to changes in different climate forcings and to feedbacks. Through comparison with observations of the environmental impacts of these climate changes, or with climate reconstructions based on physical, chemical or biological records, PMIP also addresses the issue of how well state-of-the-art models simulate climate changes. Palaeoclimate states are radically different from those of the recent past documented by the instrumental record and thus provide an out-of-sample test of the models used for future climate projections and a way to assess whether they have the correct sensitivity to forcings and feedbacks. Five distinctly different periods have been selected as focus for the core palaeoclimate experiments that are designed to contribute to the objectives of the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6). This manuscript describes the motivation for the choice of these periods and the design of the numerical experiments, with a focus upon their novel features compared to the experiments performed in previous phases of PMIP and CMIP as well as the benefits of common analyses of the models across multiple climate states. It also describes the information needed to document each experiment and the model outputs required for analysis and benchmarking.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-46
JournalGeoscientific Model Development
Early online date26 May 2016
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 26 May 2016

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