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Clouds and Sensitivities Across a Hierarchy of GFDL CMIP6 Models
  • Levi Silvers,
  • David Paynter,
  • Ming Zhao
Levi Silvers
Princeton University & The Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory

Corresponding Author:levi.silvers@stonybrook.edu

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David Paynter
NOAA GFDL
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Ming Zhao
NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
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Abstract

The newest atmospheric climate model at GFDL, AM4, succeeded at significantly reducing the toa radiative flux biases as compared to CERES observations. Despite a relatively low top-of-atmosphere sensitivity to uniform warming of SSTs (Cess warming experiments), the corresponding coupled climate model, CM4, has high transient and equilibrium climate sensitivities. We will present a systematic picture of the modeled clouds across a hierarchy of model configurations which utilize this atmospheric model. This hierarchy includes the CFMIP Aquaplanet and AMIP experiments, fully coupled model experiments (using GFDL’s CM4 model) as well as additional AMIP-like experiments with particular SST patterns. This demonstrates the large range of sensitivities that are possible from a single atmospheric climate model. Looking at the global mean radiative feedbacks across the different model configurations as well as in the context of CMIP5 and CMIP6 models will allow us to assess to what extent the cloud feedbacks in the idealized experiments relate to the fully coupled experiments and to observed clouds.