Community Climate System Model
Encyclopedia
The Community Climate System Model (CCSM) is a coupled Global Climate Model
developed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
(UCAR) with funding from the National Science Foundation
, Department of Energy
, and NASA
. The coupled components include an atmospheric model (Community Atmosphere Model), a land-surface model (Community Land Model), an ocean model (Parallel Ocean Program
), and a sea ice model (Community Sea Ice Model). CCSM is maintained by the National Center for Atmospheric Research
.
The software design of CCSM is based around the notion of a physical/dynamical component of the climate system, and as a freely available community model is designed to work on a variety of machine architectures
powerful enough to run the model. The offline chemical transport model has been described as 'very efficient'.
The model itself is divided into four component models (land, sea-ice, ocean and atmosphere) connected by a coupler, which exchanges information with each of the component models. It has been suggested by NCAR themselves that because of this, CCSM cannot be considered a single climate model, but rather a framework for building and testing various climate models.
datasets as input, then outputs six climate variables to the coupler, to be integrated with the variable produced by the other component models.
. On May 17, 2002, its name was changed from the NCAR Community climate Model to reflect the role of the atmosphere model in the new fully coupled climate system. It shares the same horizontal grid as the land model of CCSM: a 256x128 regular longitude/latitude global horizontal grid (giving a 1.4 degree resolution). It has 26 levels in the vertical.
, alongside many other GCM
s from different countries and institutions.
Global climate model
A General Circulation Model is a mathematical model of the general circulation of a planetary atmosphere or ocean and based on the Navier–Stokes equations on a rotating sphere with thermodynamic terms for various energy sources . These equations are the basis for complex computer programs commonly...
developed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research is a nonprofit consortium of more than 75 universities offering Ph.D.s in the atmospheric and related sciences. UCAR manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research and provides additional services to strengthen and support research and...
(UCAR) with funding from the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
, Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
, and NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
. The coupled components include an atmospheric model (Community Atmosphere Model), a land-surface model (Community Land Model), an ocean model (Parallel Ocean Program
Parallel Ocean Program
The Parallel Ocean Program is a three-dimensional ocean circulation model designed primarily for studying the ocean climate system. The model is developed and supported primarily by researchers at LANL....
), and a sea ice model (Community Sea Ice Model). CCSM is maintained by the National Center for Atmospheric Research
National Center for Atmospheric Research
The National Center for Atmospheric Research has multiple facilities, including the I. M. Pei-designed Mesa Laboratory headquarters in Boulder, Colorado. NCAR is managed by the nonprofit University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and sponsored by the National Science Foundation...
.
The software design of CCSM is based around the notion of a physical/dynamical component of the climate system, and as a freely available community model is designed to work on a variety of machine architectures
Technical architecture
Technical architecture is one of several architecture domains that form the pillars of an enterprise architecture or solution architecture. It describes the structure and behaviour of the technology infrastructure of an enterprise, solution or system...
powerful enough to run the model. The offline chemical transport model has been described as 'very efficient'.
The model itself is divided into four component models (land, sea-ice, ocean and atmosphere) connected by a coupler, which exchanges information with each of the component models. It has been suggested by NCAR themselves that because of this, CCSM cannot be considered a single climate model, but rather a framework for building and testing various climate models.
Ocean model (docn6)
The Ocean model used in CCSM, the Climatological Data Ocean Model (docn), is one of four component models plus the coupler that make up the structure of CCSM. The most recent version is Version 6.0. Unlike the atmosphere model, this component cannot be run as a standalone model; it must be run within the framework of CCSM. It takes two netCDFNetCDF
NetCDF is a set of software libraries and self-describing, machine-independent data formats that support the creation, access, and sharing of array-oriented scientific data. The project homepage is hosted by the Unidata program at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research...
datasets as input, then outputs six climate variables to the coupler, to be integrated with the variable produced by the other component models.
Atmosphere model (CAM)
The atmospheric component of CCSM is the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM). While being the atmospheric model used in the Community Climate System Model, it can also be run as a standalone atmosphere model. The most current version is 3.1, 3.0 being the fifth generation of NCAR atmospheric GCMGlobal climate model
A General Circulation Model is a mathematical model of the general circulation of a planetary atmosphere or ocean and based on the Navier–Stokes equations on a rotating sphere with thermodynamic terms for various energy sources . These equations are the basis for complex computer programs commonly...
. On May 17, 2002, its name was changed from the NCAR Community climate Model to reflect the role of the atmosphere model in the new fully coupled climate system. It shares the same horizontal grid as the land model of CCSM: a 256x128 regular longitude/latitude global horizontal grid (giving a 1.4 degree resolution). It has 26 levels in the vertical.
Development
The first version of CCSM was created in 1983 as the Community Climate Model. Over the next two decades it was steadily improved and was renamed CCSM after the CSM (Climate System Model) components were introduced in May 1996. In June 2004, UCAR released the third version of CCSM, which included new versions of all of the component models. In 2007, this new version of CCSM (commonly given the acronym CCSM3, or the abbreviation NCCCSM) was used in the IPCC Fourth Assessment ReportIPCC Fourth Assessment Report
Climate Change 2007, the Fourth Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , is the fourth in a series of reports intended to assess scientific, technical and socio-economic information concerning climate change, its potential effects, and options for...
, alongside many other GCM
Global climate model
A General Circulation Model is a mathematical model of the general circulation of a planetary atmosphere or ocean and based on the Navier–Stokes equations on a rotating sphere with thermodynamic terms for various energy sources . These equations are the basis for complex computer programs commonly...
s from different countries and institutions.