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Improved Atlantic winter blocking in a climate model
Author(s) -
Scaife Adam A.,
Copsey Dan,
Gordon Chris,
Harris Chris,
Hinton Tim,
Keeley Sarah,
O'Neill Alan,
Roberts Malcolm,
Williams Keith
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2011gl049573
Subject(s) - blocking (statistics) , environmental science , climatology , climate model , scale (ratio) , climate change , atmospheric sciences , geology , oceanography , computer science , geography , computer network , cartography
Most climate models underestimate the frequency of Atlantic blocking. Horizontal resolution is often cited as the main culprit due to poorly resolved small‐scale variability whose upscale effects help to maintain blocks. However, recent studies show that blocking errors are also largely attributable to the large scale climatological bias of the model. Furthermore, modest resolution models can contain enough variability to generate greatly improved blocking frequency if they are corrected to account for time‐mean bias. Here we show greatly improved simulations of Atlantic winter blocking frequency in a coupled ocean–atmosphere climate model. A reduction of the mean bias, due to an improved simulation of the Atlantic Ocean, is a key element of the improvement.