The effect of horizontal resolution on cloud radiative forcing in the ECMWF model. PCMDI report No. 22

With expanding computer capability and capacity there has been considerable interest in increasing the resolution in GCMs. The primary driving force behind this are two fold: (1) increased resolution may reduce the systematic errors inherent in parameterization of sub-grid scale processes, and (2) higher resolution may improve confidence in regional scale studies of climatic features that are orographically influenced -- such as the effect of the Tibetan Plateau on the East Asian Monsoon. This study focuses on the effect of horizontal resolution on the spatial and temporal systematic errors of cloud radiative forcing and its components. In this paper, the top-of-the-atmosphere radiation fields are taken from a series of simulations using the European Centre for Medium Range Forecasts (ECMWF) general circulation model (cycle 33), run at four different horizontal resolutions. Section 2 discusses the concept of cloud radiative forcing and describes the simulations from the ECMWF model. The observed global field of cloud forcing from ERBE is presented in section 3 along with the model-produced fields of the net solar and longwave cloud forcing. The seasonal effect of forcing is described in section 4, and the results are summarized in section 5