Quantification of The Performance of CMIP6 Models for Dynamic Downscaling in The North Pacific and Northwest Pacific Oceans

authored by: Seok Geun Oh, Bong Gwan Kim, Yang Ki Cho, Seok Woo Son
Abstract: Selecting a reliable global climate model as the driving forcing in simulations with dynamic downscaling is critical for obtaining a reliable regional ocean climate. With respect to their accuracy in providing physical quantities and long-term trends, we quantify the performances of 17 models from the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) over the North Pacific (NP) and Northwest Pacific (NWP) oceans for 1979–2014. Based on normalized evaluation measures, each model’s performance for a physical quantity is mainly quantified by the performance score (PS), which ranges from 0 to 100. Overall, the CMIP6 models reasonably reproduce the physical quantities of the driving variables and the warming ocean heat content and temperature trends. However, their performances significantly depend on the variables and region analyzed. The EC-Earth-Veg and CNRM-CM6-1 models show the best performances for the NP and NWP oceans, respectively, with the highest PS values of 85.89 and 76.97, respectively. The EC-Earth3 model series are less sensitive to the driving variables in the NP ocean, as reflected in their PS. The model performance is significantly dependent on the driving variables in the NWP ocean. Nevertheless, providing a better physical quantity does not correlate with a better performance for trend. However, MRI-ESM2-0 model shows a high performance for the physical quantity in the NWP ocean with warming trends similar to references, and it could thus be used as an appropriate driving forcing in dynamic downscaling of this ocean. This study provides objective information for studies involving dynamic downscaling of the NP and NWP oceans.
Organisation(s): Institute of Meteorology and Climatology
External Organisation(s): Seoul National University
Type: Article
Journal: Asia-Pacific Journal of Atmospheric Sciences
Volume: 59
Pages: 367-383
No. of pages: 17
ISSN: 1976-7633
Publication date: 06.2023
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Atmospheric Science
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 13 - Climate Action
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1007/s13143-023-00320-w (Access: Open)
https://doi.org/10.15488/14907 (Access: Open)