Global water cycle in the ACME model

Abstract

An accurate representation of the water cycle in the ACME model is one of the primary goals of the project. We introduce a set of metrics to be used to diagnose varying configurations and versions of the model. The metrics broadly diagnose the water cycle’s mean, spatial distribution, and rain rate distribution characteristics. The current metrics were applied to a five year simulation of the ACME v0.1 model. The metrics identified previously known features, such as a likely overestimation of the mean precipitation rate, an overestimation of the frequency of drizzle (~ 1 mm d^-1), and an overly active cycling of water, which leads to a shortened lifetime of water over the oceans. Poster_pdf