Snow on Arctic Sea Ice in a Warming Climate as Simulated in CESM.

ABSTRACT: Earth system models are valuable tools for understanding how the Arctic snow-ice system and the feedbacks therein may respond to a warming climate. In this analysis, we investigate snow on Arctic sea ice to better understand how snow conditions may change under different forcing scenarios. First, we use in situ, airborne, and satellite observations to assess the realism of the Community Earth System Model (CESM) in simulating snow on Arctic sea ice. CESM versions one and two are evaluated, with V1 being the Large Ensemble experiment (CESM1-LE) and V2 being configured with low- and high-top atmospheric components. The assessment shows CESM2 underestimates snow depth and produces overly uniform snow distributions, whereas CESM1-LE produces a highly variable, excessively-thick snow cover. Obs

SUBMITTER: Webster MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8022351 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature