Scheduled special issues
The following special issues are scheduled for publication in GMD:
A
The aim of this special issue in Geoscientific Model Development is to collate contributions from the EGU General Assembly 2024, specifically the session titled "Advances in Numerical Modelling of Geological Processes". This session explores the complex multi-physics nature of geological processes, which often involve the interaction of different physical phenomena. Such interactions can generate nonlinear responses, leading to the spontaneous localization of flow and deformation.
In addition to physics-based models, geological and geophysical datasets serve as another vital source of information, while recent technological advancements have significantly enhanced spatial and temporal resolutions.
Understanding the interplay between different physical processes necessitates the development of advanced numerical tools and methodologies. Effective new models should utilize various types of parallel hardware efficiently and in a backend-agnostic manner. These models must also balance conciseness with the capability to bridge portability and performance, thereby addressing the challenge of the two-language barrier. Furthermore, new applications that incorporate high-quality data into physics-based predictive numerical simulations are crucial. These applications facilitate workflows that further refine key unknown parameters within the models. The integration of innovative inversion strategies, which connect forward dynamic models with observable data, and the combination of partial differential equation (PDE) solvers with machine learning (ML) through differentiable programming, represent significant areas of research within this field.
We invite contributions from the following two complementary themes also featured in the EGU session:
- The first of these themes entails computational advances associated with alternative spatial and/or temporal discretization for existing forward/inverse models, scalable high-performance computing implementations of new and existing methodologies (GPUs/multi-core), solver and preconditioner developments, combining PDEs with AI- or ML-based approaches (physics-informed ML), automatic differentiation and differentiable programming, and significant performance increases by using new algorithms or code and methodology comparisons (benchmarks).
- The second area of interest comprises physics advances associated with the development of PDEs to describe geological processes, inversion strategies and adjoint-based modelling, numerical model validation through comparison with observables (data), scientific discovery enabled by 2D and 3D modelling, and utilization of coupled models to explore nonlinear interactions.
Rapid population growth and urbanization worldwide accelerate eco-environmental and socio-economic stress as well as adverse climatic and health impacts on urban dwellers. Atmospheric modelling research has largely been performed on a horizontal grid spacing of kilometres or larger due to a lack of understanding of the local-scale phenomena, appropriate parameterizations, and adequate modelling tools and computer resources. Urban- to hyperlocal-scale (at street or city block level) air pollution, climate change, and their impacts on population exposure and human health have increasingly received attention from both researchers and policy makers around the world. Several state-of-the-science models have recently been developed for urban- to hyperlocal-scale air pollution modelling, including the street-network model, the Model of Urban Network of Intersecting Canyons and Highways (MUNICH) that incorporates detailed representations of gas-phase chemistry and secondary aerosol formation pathways, and the Street-in-Grid (SinG) model that dynamically combines a 3-D Eulerian chemical–transport model (CTM), Polair3D, with MUNICH. There have been increasing numbers of developers and users for MUNICH, SinG, and other similar coupled 3-D CTMs and urban canyon models for street-level air pollution modelling worldwide, such as CALIOPE-Urban, the Operational Street Pollution Model (OSPM) coupled with the Danish Eulerian Hemispheric Model (DEHM), and the Parallelized Large-Eddy Simulation Model (PALM). Meanwhile, air quality measurement data at hyperlocal scales have become increasingly available for model validation and improvement. Recognizing the urgent need for scientific advancement, pollution and exposure assessment, policy making, and public health protection at urban to hyperlocal scales, we launched a special issue on air quality research at street level in 2018, in which we have published 20 journal papers: https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/special_issue994.html. This special issue (Part II) will continue to advance scientific understanding of local-scale atmospheric phenomena, promote discussion on state-of-the-science urban as well as hyperlocal street- and city-block-level air quality research including measurements, emissions, and model development, and encourage application for complex interactions among urban air pollution, climate, and health. The special issue (Part II) is open for all submissions which address the following themes.
- 3-D Street-in-Grid (SinG) model development and application
- Urban canyon and network model development and its incorporation into 3-D CTMs
- Urban and street-level air quality modelling in support of human exposure assessment
- Impact of urban traffic emissions on air quality and human health at a street level
- Hyperlocal (street and city block scales) air quality measurement and modelling
- Urban infrastructure-induced circulation and its impact on city planning
C
From its origins as a punctuated phasing of a few key coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation model experiments, the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) has evolved into a continuous climate Earth system modelling programme supported by design of experimental protocol, forcing dataset development, infrastructure solutions, and format requirements. These defined phases tackle key and timely climate science questions and facilitate delivery of relevant multi-model simulations through shared infrastructure for the benefit of the climate research community, climate impact and adaptation practitioners, national and international climate assessments, and society at large. In a series of invited contributions, this special issue describes the evolving design and organization of CMIP, the suite of experiments of its seventh phase (CMIP7) including the new AR7 Fast Track
component and registered model intercomparison projects (MIPs) adhering to CMIP data standards and best-practice experimental protocol and data requests, and enabling infrastructure. The papers provide the required information to produce a consistent set of climate model simulations that can be scientifically exploited to support the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) science priorities, which currently include Fundamental understanding of the climate system
, Prediction of the near-term evolution of the climate system
, Long-term response of the climate system
, and Bridging climate science and society
, and future climate assessments informing policy and decision-making. A separate GMD special issue is providing an overview of the various CMIP7 forcings.
Manuscripts submitted to this special issue must be solicited by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) Panel. For more information, please contact Eleanor O'Rourke (cmip-ipo@esa.int).
Manuscripts documenting model intercomparison projects (MIPs) must have titles adhering to the following convention: CMIP7 Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project (ISMIP) experimental protocol; CMIP7 Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project (ISMIP) data request; or, for a combined paper, CMIP7 Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project (ISMIP) experimental protocol and data request.
The climate crisis is one of the grand challenges of the 21st century. The increase in Earth's surface temperature, commonly known as global warming or anthropogenically induced climate change, is primarily driven by the rise in greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. The two most significant greenhouse gases affected by human activity are carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4).
While human activities such as fossil fuel combustion, oil and gas exploration, waste management, and agriculture are major sources of GHGs, natural sources also play a significant role. Extensive wetlands, for example, are the largest natural source of CH4 globally. In wetlands, methane is produced by soil microbes and plants that metabolize under anaerobic conditions and is then released into the atmosphere through diffusion, transport via plant tissues, and gas bubble emissions. These processes make global wetlands among the most important yet least understood sources and sinks in the global methane and CO2 budget.
A major scientific challenge in this context is distinguishing between methane emissions from natural sources and those resulting from human activities. Our understanding of these processes, their relative magnitudes, and the associated feedback mechanisms – such as increased wildfire activity, permafrost thaw, or changes in inundation patterns – is still insufficient to fully meet the needs of scientists and policymakers in predicting and mitigating climate warming.
To enhance our understanding of greenhouse gas budgets, a series of airborne measurement campaigns, known as CoMet (Carbon Dioxide and Methane Mission), have been conducted using the unique capabilities of the German research aircraft HALO. The CoMet campaigns integrate active airborne remote sensing measurements with lasers, passive remote sensing with spectrometers and solar radiation, and advanced in situ greenhouse gas concentration measurements, alongside an extensive suite of meteorological parameters. These observations are further supported by extensive modelling activities that also contribute to validating existing GHG satellite data and preparing for the next generation of such missions.
The first CoMet campaign took place in 2018, and its findings were published in a special inter-journal issue of AMT/ACP/GMD. The follow-up campaign, CoMet 2.0 Arctic (https://comet2arctic.de), was successfully conducted during a 6-week intensive operation period in August and September 2022 in Canada. The research flights focused on greenhouse gas emissions from boreal wetlands, permafrost areas in the Canadian Arctic, and wildfires, as well as anthropogenic sources like oil, gas, and coal extraction sites and landfills (in Canada and, during a test flight, in Spain). This campaign provided a valuable dataset for understanding methane and carbon dioxide cycles, particularly at high northern latitudes.
CoMet 2.0 Arctic is also part of the transatlantic AMPAC (Arctic Methane and Permafrost Challenge) initiative, a collaborative effort between NASA and ESA that fosters cooperation among US, Canadian, and European research institutes in this crucial area of research.
The special issue is open to all contributions that fit the topic from participants of the CoMet 2.0 Arctic field mission, the AMPAC community, and associated research partners.
The natural and anthropogenic climate drivers that impact Earth’s radiation balance, influencing climate states and forcing
climate change are termed climate forcing
agents. Globally representative forcing estimates are needed to drive Earth system models to simulate past and project future climate states. The Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) Forcing Task Team aims to identify, develop, document, and deliver forcings for next-generation models participating in the seventh phase of CMIP (CMIP7). This next phase is likely to be a core contribution to the IPCC seventh assessment cycle (AR7). The special issue welcomes papers documenting forcing data development and evaluation, along with those describing CMIP7 forcing characteristics (in contrast to previous versions). We also invite papers that quantify and assess uncertainties in the spatial and temporal forcing distributions and the influence of forcing on the evolution of climate states across Earth system model configurations.
D
regional MOM6) creates such a framework, but the extension of MOM6 to high-resolution regional applications presents many challenges.
The papers in this collection present the overall design and implementation of regional MOM6, describe new parameterizations intended for regional applications, present a first generation of regional MOM6 configurations from across the global ocean, and offer select initial applications in ocean science. Advances in horizontal grid generation and boundary condition formulation are highlighted, including those enabling a more seamless transmission of physical and biogeochemical information from global to regional scales and those required to handle flexible Lagrangian vertical coordinates. The robustness of physical and biogeochemical configurations and parameterizations – many of which were developed for global applications – is explored in higher-resolution implementations spanning environments from the Arctic to equatorial waters. Analysis of tradeoffs between model skill and computational cost highlights algorithmic improvements critical for producing decision-relevant ensembles that span a range of ocean futures. The collected works provide a foundation for the expanded application of regional MOM6 to understand and predict ocean conditions across scales.
This is a
traditional stylespecial issue open to all papers within the topic. We anticipate that contributions will be primarily to GMD initially but that there will be a growing number of applications suitable for OS once the core development papers have been published. The indefinite ending date will allow for a greater number of initial applications to be published in OS and enable eventual documentation of
generational updatesplanned for some configurations.
F
G
I
The loss of mass from glaciers, ice caps, and polar ice sheets has accelerated over the last 3 decades as a result of climate change. This has made land ice the major contributor to sea level rise and the main cause of its acceleration. However, the evolution of the land-based cryosphere over the course of the 21st century and beyond adds considerable uncertainties to sea level rise projections, particularly if instability mechanisms are triggered, leading to rapid retreat of marine basins in Antarctica. Critical knowledge gaps pose challenges for predicting the land ice response to the evolution of climate and the resulting impact on sea level, from cryospheric process understanding, ice sheet and glacier modelling, and coupling with the atmosphere and ocean to bridging the gap with sea level and coastal-impact sciences. This special issue includes contributions related to the following:
- Earth observations that help to constrain glacier and ice sheet surface conditions, dynamics, or mass loss;
- theoretical or numerical modelling of cryospheric processes or coupling with the ocean and atmosphere;
- standalone or coupled projections of ice surface mass balance;
- Arctic and Antarctic ocean conditions promoting and/or responding to ice sheet loss;
- glacier or ice sheet dynamics and mass balance;
- approaches to analysing multi-model ensembles or computing global and regional sea level rise projections;
- coastal impacts of sea level rise and climate change, adaptation needs, and related climate services.
J
M
Mercury (Hg) is a chemical pollutant of human health concern worldwide; a consequence of anthropogenic activities; and the focus of the Minamata Convention on Mercury (MC; https://minamataconvention.org/en), an international treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury. The MC entered into force on 16 August 2017 and committed to limiting the use and environmental release of mercury. Also, the 1998 Protocol on Heavy Metals of the 1979 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) commits parties to mitigating emissions of mercury (as well as cadmium and lead) from a variety of point sources and provides guidance on mitigating emissions associated with heavy metal use in manufactured products. The MC framework requires an evaluation of the effectiveness of its measures in meeting the objectives beginning no later than 6 years after the convention’s entry into force and periodically thereafter. The Protocol on Heavy Metals requires a periodic review of the progress towards meeting the obligations in the protocol and the sufficiency and effectiveness of those obligations and an evaluation of whether additional emission reductions are warranted.
This multi-journal special issue (SI) is intended to develop the required information that can be scientifically exploited to address key policy questions of the conventions: (1) what are the contributions of anthropogenic emissions and releases and other Hg sources to current Hg levels observed in air, biota, humans, and other media? (2) How have these contribution levels changed over time and over the timeline of the convention? (3) How do the contribution levels and their trends vary geographically at the global scale? (4) What are the contributions of anthropogenic emissions and releases and other drivers to the temporal trends in observed Hg levels across global regions? (5) How are observed Hg levels expected to change in the future?
The special issue aims at collecting relevant research advances arising from the design, implementation, and results of the Multi-Compartment Hg Modeling and Analysis Project (MCHgMAP) and from the scientific community on all aspects of biogeochemical mercury cycling, including primary and secondary emissions, observations, process studies, and single to multi-compartmental and statistical model development and application. A challenge of analysing the fate of emitted mercury is that it can recycle between the atmosphere, land, and ocean, and as a result, past and present emissions can continue to affect the environment on timescales of decades to centuries. MCHgMAP is an ensemble modelling initiative developed to inform the effectiveness of evaluations of the MC and LRTAP, utilizing a coordinated modelling approach between single-medium (atmosphere, land, and ocean) and multi-media mercury models to consistently simulate the changing global and regional environmental Hg cycling and analyse its drivers. The SI includes an overview paper on MCHgMAP, describing its scientific background and design (an important and crucial preparatory stage), which will be referenced by the individual papers on this project that follow.
For this SI we welcome manuscripts on activities such as MIIPs – Model Intercomparison and Improvement Projects that target long-standing issues in the representation of small-scale processes in numerical weather prediction and climate models. The initiatives may have been taken during the 10-year Polar Prediction Project (PPP) that finished at the end of 2022 or during the Polar Coupled Analysis and Prediction for Services (PCAPS) both part of the WMO World Weather Research Program. These programs suggest an emphasis on processes that are especially important for the polar regions, but contributions that are relevant and important for model performance in other regions of the world are also welcome. Specific targets are the representation of stably stratified boundary layers, mixed-phase clouds and atmospheric coupling with snow and or ice-covered surfaces, sea-ice, ocean mixing etc.
The intention of this SI is to publish results from MIIPs that establish new and improved workflows to facilitate a more efficient path to improved process representation. This includes research-grade observations that are packaged in an easy-to-use format which combine high-frequency observations of the surface and the atmosphere above to be able to directly compare with the parameterizations used in models using time-step data. The Merged Data File (MDF) format that is defined for both observations and model output come with a series of tools that is transferable between models and observational data collections for both file production and analysis. The SI especially welcome contributions that build on, or further develop the MDF concept including new variables, types of data, sites or new analysis tools such as process-oriented diagnostics or insights in models using the targeted files.
N
This Special Issue aims to collect technical and scientific manuscripts dealing with evaluation of model skill and performance as well as development of NEMO components. Submitted manuscripts can cover a wide variety of topics, including process studies, new parameterizations, implementation of new model features and new NEMO configurations. The main scope is to collect relevant and state of the art manuscripts to provide the NEMO users with a single portal to search, discover and understand about the NEMO modelling framework potential and evolution and submit their contributions.
P
S
Constraining the circulation in general circulation models by nudging the model variables toward reanalysis provides a rather powerful tool for investigating the sensitivities of predictions and simulations to specific processes or phenomena and enables the impact of model biases to be better quantified. A shared methodology for applying nudging to stratospheric variables has been developed by the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Stratosphere–troposphere Process And their Role in Climate (SPARC) Quasi-Biennial Oscillation initiative (QBOi) and Stratospheric Nudging And Predictable Surface Impacts (SNAPSI) activities. This methodology involves nudging (relaxing) only the zonal mean, while atmospheric waves are allowed to evolve freely, though publications that adopt other nudging methodologies or that explore sensitivity to the nudging methodology are encouraged to submit. For SNAPSI the nudging is applied throughout the stratosphere, whereas QBOi applies nudging to a localized region of the equatorial stratosphere. The reliability and robustness of the conclusions obtained from this new approach are further enhanced by the use of coordinated multi-model experiments.
The purpose of the proposed special issue is to provide a common location for reporting results from the SNAPSI and QBOi coordinated experiments utilizing stratospheric nudging, along with results from other related studies that nudge the atmosphere, whether nudging just the zonal mean or the full field. A number of modelling centres have now carried out the SNAPSI and QBOi experiments. The special issue would collect papers analysing these datasets that have been produced by participating modelling centres.
The SNAPSI experiments are designed to study the role of sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) in surface predictability; they are hindcast-type experiments, specifying 45-day runs covering three recent SSW events, with a large ensemble size of 50–100 members for each case. Analysis topics include the role of stratospheric variability in surface extremes and predictability and stratosphere–troposphere coupling mechanisms. The QBOi experiments are designed to study the impact of biases in the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) on QBO teleconnections and the forcing of the QBO; they are climate-type experiments, specifying 40-year runs with one to three ensemble members. Analysis topics include the QBO teleconnections with the stratospheric polar vortex and the relationship between the QBO and Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO). Analysis of both sets of coordinated experiments, SNAPSI and QBOi, is currently in progress, with papers expected to be submitted in the coming 1–2 years.
T
FAMOUS is climate model based on the widely used "HadCM3" atmosphere–ocean general circulation code, a version of the UK Met Office Unified Model. Run at a lower resolution than HadCM3, its computational requirements make it suitable for large ensembles and millennial-scale climate simulations. This ongoing special issue collects technical documentation and evaluations of the model climatology as FAMOUS is developed and coupled to models of other Earth system components.
Firedrake provides a model development system which is both high productivity and high performance. Users write high-level code in Python describing the mathematical formulation of a model. The low-level, high-performance, parallel implementation of the algorithm is then automatically generated by a sequence of domain-specific compilers. The user writes maths and gets simulation. Firedrake provides users with a vast range of finite element discretisations, including the compatible finite-element methods which accurately represent the critical force balances in large-scale geoscientific problems. Other important features for the geoscientific user include curved elements and layered meshes, which are key to accurate atmosphere and ocean modelling.
The strategy follows a bottom-up approach, meaning that the various processes and diagnostic tools are implemented as so-called submodels, which are technically independent of each other and strictly separated from the underlying technical model infrastructure, such as memory management, input/output, flow-control, etc.
The MESSy software provides generalized interfaces for the standardized control and interconnection (coupling) of these submodels.
The present time-unlimited Special Issue hosts scientific and technical documentation and evaluation manuscripts concerned with the Modular Earth Submodel System and the models build upon it. Moreover, it comprises manuscripts about scientific applications involving these models.
The NorESM publications in this special issue address a range of NorESM versions. The first set of model versions delivered results to CMIP5. NorESM1-M is run concentration-driven for greenhouse gases (GHGs) and is based on CCSM4 (released 1 April 2010), while NorESM1-ME can be run emission-driven for GHGs and is based on CESM1 (released 1 July 2010). A low-resolution version, NorESM1-L, was developed mainly for paleo-climate simulations. New versions of NorESM are underway: NorESM1.X, where X indicates updates of the NorESM1 versions, and NorESM2, which is intended to contribute to CMIP6. Further versions will follow thereafter. NorESM includes the following: its own developed code for chemistry–aerosol–cloud–radiation interactions (CAM-Oslo) and enhancements of the dynamics/physics of the atmospheric module; alternative parameterization of surface turbulent fluxes; an isopycnic coordinate ocean model originating from the Miami Isopycnic Coordinate Ocean Model (MICOM) but developed further; and the HAMburg Ocean Carbon Cycle (HAMOCC) model developed at the Max Plank Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg and adapted to the isopycnic coordinate ocean model framework.
Papers developed for full validation (CMIP-DECK) or more specific evaluation of the NorESM versions and further developments of these are welcome in this special issue. Authors intending to contribute papers to this special issue should contact the coordinators (Mats Bentsen and Michael Schulz), e.g., to ensure the consistency of version names and numbers.
SimSphere is a one-dimensional soil–vegetation–atmosphere transfer model devoted to the study of land surface interactions of the Earth’s system. Since its early development, the model has become highly variable in its application use.
Apart from its use as an educational tool at several universities worldwide, SimSphere is used in a number of research studies related to the examination of hypothetical scenarios examining land surface processes and feedbacks. It is also used synergistically with Earth observation (EO) data to retrieve spatiotemporal estimates of energy fluxes and surface soil moisture, involving exploration studies on the development of related operational products.
This special issue hosts contributions concerned with descriptions of further upgrades of SimSphere or its exploitation in any way. It comprises articles on model developments or applications involving the model; this includes – but is not limited to – studies exploring hypothetical scenario examination, model validation, sensitivity analysis and synergies of it with EO data.
The aim of this Special Issue is to bring together under one roof papers using the TMM as the underlying simulation method. This can range from manuscripts documenting various technical aspects of the TMM framework to those describing new biogeochemical models/parameterizations and their application.
This special issue gathers already-published and future papers that describe and/or apply the global water resources and use model WaterGAP.
WaterGAP (www.watergap.de) is a global freshwater model that calculates human water use as well as water flows and storage on all continents (except Antarctica), taking into account the human influence on the natural freshwater system such as climate change, water abstractions, and dams. As one of the pioneers in the field of global hydrological modelling, it supports our understanding of the global freshwater system since 1996 for historical periods and the future. The model is continuously being improved to answer scientific questions driven by societal demands. WaterGAP is applied to assess water scarcity, droughts, and floods and to quantify the human impact on, for example, groundwater, wetlands, streamflow, and sea-level rise.
iLOVECLIM is an intermediate complexity fully coupled climate Earth system model that aims at computation and understanding of the climate system on a millennial timescale. It is a code fork from the LOVECLIM climate model version 1.2. From its forerunner, iLOVECLIM retains only the physical climate components (atmosphere–ocean–terrestrial vegetation modules). It is developed further to progressively include the components necessary for multi-millennia palaeoclimate and future climate experiments. As such, iLOVECLIM is a tool designed to enhance the integration of model simulations and (palaeo-)data, with an emphasis on the simulation of isotopic tracers throughout all components of the climate system, as indicated by the i- prefix. The present, time-unlimited special issue hosts the technical documentation of the current version of iLOVECLIM as well as model evaluation manuscripts.
Climate science, in particular climate prediction and projection, are heavily dependent on the use of Earth system models (ESMs), which are nonlinear, complex, and chaotic representations of the Earth’s spheres. As such, ESMs are susceptible to various sources of uncertainty. These include uncertainty in the initial state, parameter values, model formulation, structure, and external forcing. Ensembles have become a key tool to quantify these uncertainties and improve predictions. However, challenging questions remain regarding how to design and interpret such ensembles within the constraints of limited computational power and the lack of a rigorous framework for their design. Therefore, this special issue will be a valuable resource to climate scientists working on both theoretical and practical aspects of prediction ahead of Phase 7 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP7) and future assessments.
This issue arises from the minisymposium Theoretical and Computational Aspects of Ensemble Design and Interpretation in Climate Science and Modelling
hosted during the SIAM Conference on Mathematical & Computational Issues in Geosciences in Bergen, Norway (19–22 June 2023). It will feature works by participants as well as external contributions.
2024
The climate crisis is one of the grand challenges of the 21st century. The increase in Earth's surface temperature, commonly known as global warming or anthropogenically induced climate change, is primarily driven by the rise in greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. The two most significant greenhouse gases affected by human activity are carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4).
While human activities such as fossil fuel combustion, oil and gas exploration, waste management, and agriculture are major sources of GHGs, natural sources also play a significant role. Extensive wetlands, for example, are the largest natural source of CH4 globally. In wetlands, methane is produced by soil microbes and plants that metabolize under anaerobic conditions and is then released into the atmosphere through diffusion, transport via plant tissues, and gas bubble emissions. These processes make global wetlands among the most important yet least understood sources and sinks in the global methane and CO2 budget.
A major scientific challenge in this context is distinguishing between methane emissions from natural sources and those resulting from human activities. Our understanding of these processes, their relative magnitudes, and the associated feedback mechanisms – such as increased wildfire activity, permafrost thaw, or changes in inundation patterns – is still insufficient to fully meet the needs of scientists and policymakers in predicting and mitigating climate warming.
To enhance our understanding of greenhouse gas budgets, a series of airborne measurement campaigns, known as CoMet (Carbon Dioxide and Methane Mission), have been conducted using the unique capabilities of the German research aircraft HALO. The CoMet campaigns integrate active airborne remote sensing measurements with lasers, passive remote sensing with spectrometers and solar radiation, and advanced in situ greenhouse gas concentration measurements, alongside an extensive suite of meteorological parameters. These observations are further supported by extensive modelling activities that also contribute to validating existing GHG satellite data and preparing for the next generation of such missions.
The first CoMet campaign took place in 2018, and its findings were published in a special inter-journal issue of AMT/ACP/GMD. The follow-up campaign, CoMet 2.0 Arctic (https://comet2arctic.de), was successfully conducted during a 6-week intensive operation period in August and September 2022 in Canada. The research flights focused on greenhouse gas emissions from boreal wetlands, permafrost areas in the Canadian Arctic, and wildfires, as well as anthropogenic sources like oil, gas, and coal extraction sites and landfills (in Canada and, during a test flight, in Spain). This campaign provided a valuable dataset for understanding methane and carbon dioxide cycles, particularly at high northern latitudes.
CoMet 2.0 Arctic is also part of the transatlantic AMPAC (Arctic Methane and Permafrost Challenge) initiative, a collaborative effort between NASA and ESA that fosters cooperation among US, Canadian, and European research institutes in this crucial area of research.
The special issue is open to all contributions that fit the topic from participants of the CoMet 2.0 Arctic field mission, the AMPAC community, and associated research partners.
The aim of this special issue in Geoscientific Model Development is to collate contributions from the EGU General Assembly 2024, specifically the session titled "Advances in Numerical Modelling of Geological Processes". This session explores the complex multi-physics nature of geological processes, which often involve the interaction of different physical phenomena. Such interactions can generate nonlinear responses, leading to the spontaneous localization of flow and deformation.
In addition to physics-based models, geological and geophysical datasets serve as another vital source of information, while recent technological advancements have significantly enhanced spatial and temporal resolutions.
Understanding the interplay between different physical processes necessitates the development of advanced numerical tools and methodologies. Effective new models should utilize various types of parallel hardware efficiently and in a backend-agnostic manner. These models must also balance conciseness with the capability to bridge portability and performance, thereby addressing the challenge of the two-language barrier. Furthermore, new applications that incorporate high-quality data into physics-based predictive numerical simulations are crucial. These applications facilitate workflows that further refine key unknown parameters within the models. The integration of innovative inversion strategies, which connect forward dynamic models with observable data, and the combination of partial differential equation (PDE) solvers with machine learning (ML) through differentiable programming, represent significant areas of research within this field.
We invite contributions from the following two complementary themes also featured in the EGU session:
- The first of these themes entails computational advances associated with alternative spatial and/or temporal discretization for existing forward/inverse models, scalable high-performance computing implementations of new and existing methodologies (GPUs/multi-core), solver and preconditioner developments, combining PDEs with AI- or ML-based approaches (physics-informed ML), automatic differentiation and differentiable programming, and significant performance increases by using new algorithms or code and methodology comparisons (benchmarks).
- The second area of interest comprises physics advances associated with the development of PDEs to describe geological processes, inversion strategies and adjoint-based modelling, numerical model validation through comparison with observables (data), scientific discovery enabled by 2D and 3D modelling, and utilization of coupled models to explore nonlinear interactions.
From its origins as a punctuated phasing of a few key coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation model experiments, the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) has evolved into a continuous climate Earth system modelling programme supported by design of experimental protocol, forcing dataset development, infrastructure solutions, and format requirements. These defined phases tackle key and timely climate science questions and facilitate delivery of relevant multi-model simulations through shared infrastructure for the benefit of the climate research community, climate impact and adaptation practitioners, national and international climate assessments, and society at large. In a series of invited contributions, this special issue describes the evolving design and organization of CMIP, the suite of experiments of its seventh phase (CMIP7) including the new AR7 Fast Track
component and registered model intercomparison projects (MIPs) adhering to CMIP data standards and best-practice experimental protocol and data requests, and enabling infrastructure. The papers provide the required information to produce a consistent set of climate model simulations that can be scientifically exploited to support the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) science priorities, which currently include Fundamental understanding of the climate system
, Prediction of the near-term evolution of the climate system
, Long-term response of the climate system
, and Bridging climate science and society
, and future climate assessments informing policy and decision-making. A separate GMD special issue is providing an overview of the various CMIP7 forcings.
Manuscripts submitted to this special issue must be solicited by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) Panel. For more information, please contact Eleanor O'Rourke (cmip-ipo@esa.int).
Manuscripts documenting model intercomparison projects (MIPs) must have titles adhering to the following convention: CMIP7 Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project (ISMIP) experimental protocol; CMIP7 Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project (ISMIP) data request; or, for a combined paper, CMIP7 Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project (ISMIP) experimental protocol and data request.
The natural and anthropogenic climate drivers that impact Earth’s radiation balance, influencing climate states and forcing
climate change are termed climate forcing
agents. Globally representative forcing estimates are needed to drive Earth system models to simulate past and project future climate states. The Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) Forcing Task Team aims to identify, develop, document, and deliver forcings for next-generation models participating in the seventh phase of CMIP (CMIP7). This next phase is likely to be a core contribution to the IPCC seventh assessment cycle (AR7). The special issue welcomes papers documenting forcing data development and evaluation, along with those describing CMIP7 forcing characteristics (in contrast to previous versions). We also invite papers that quantify and assess uncertainties in the spatial and temporal forcing distributions and the influence of forcing on the evolution of climate states across Earth system model configurations.
This special issue gathers already-published and future papers that describe and/or apply the global water resources and use model WaterGAP.
WaterGAP (www.watergap.de) is a global freshwater model that calculates human water use as well as water flows and storage on all continents (except Antarctica), taking into account the human influence on the natural freshwater system such as climate change, water abstractions, and dams. As one of the pioneers in the field of global hydrological modelling, it supports our understanding of the global freshwater system since 1996 for historical periods and the future. The model is continuously being improved to answer scientific questions driven by societal demands. WaterGAP is applied to assess water scarcity, droughts, and floods and to quantify the human impact on, for example, groundwater, wetlands, streamflow, and sea-level rise.
Constraining the circulation in general circulation models by nudging the model variables toward reanalysis provides a rather powerful tool for investigating the sensitivities of predictions and simulations to specific processes or phenomena and enables the impact of model biases to be better quantified. A shared methodology for applying nudging to stratospheric variables has been developed by the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Stratosphere–troposphere Process And their Role in Climate (SPARC) Quasi-Biennial Oscillation initiative (QBOi) and Stratospheric Nudging And Predictable Surface Impacts (SNAPSI) activities. This methodology involves nudging (relaxing) only the zonal mean, while atmospheric waves are allowed to evolve freely, though publications that adopt other nudging methodologies or that explore sensitivity to the nudging methodology are encouraged to submit. For SNAPSI the nudging is applied throughout the stratosphere, whereas QBOi applies nudging to a localized region of the equatorial stratosphere. The reliability and robustness of the conclusions obtained from this new approach are further enhanced by the use of coordinated multi-model experiments.
The purpose of the proposed special issue is to provide a common location for reporting results from the SNAPSI and QBOi coordinated experiments utilizing stratospheric nudging, along with results from other related studies that nudge the atmosphere, whether nudging just the zonal mean or the full field. A number of modelling centres have now carried out the SNAPSI and QBOi experiments. The special issue would collect papers analysing these datasets that have been produced by participating modelling centres.
The SNAPSI experiments are designed to study the role of sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) in surface predictability; they are hindcast-type experiments, specifying 45-day runs covering three recent SSW events, with a large ensemble size of 50–100 members for each case. Analysis topics include the role of stratospheric variability in surface extremes and predictability and stratosphere–troposphere coupling mechanisms. The QBOi experiments are designed to study the impact of biases in the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) on QBO teleconnections and the forcing of the QBO; they are climate-type experiments, specifying 40-year runs with one to three ensemble members. Analysis topics include the QBO teleconnections with the stratospheric polar vortex and the relationship between the QBO and Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO). Analysis of both sets of coordinated experiments, SNAPSI and QBOi, is currently in progress, with papers expected to be submitted in the coming 1–2 years.
2023
Mercury (Hg) is a chemical pollutant of human health concern worldwide; a consequence of anthropogenic activities; and the focus of the Minamata Convention on Mercury (MC; https://minamataconvention.org/en), an international treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury. The MC entered into force on 16 August 2017 and committed to limiting the use and environmental release of mercury. Also, the 1998 Protocol on Heavy Metals of the 1979 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) commits parties to mitigating emissions of mercury (as well as cadmium and lead) from a variety of point sources and provides guidance on mitigating emissions associated with heavy metal use in manufactured products. The MC framework requires an evaluation of the effectiveness of its measures in meeting the objectives beginning no later than 6 years after the convention’s entry into force and periodically thereafter. The Protocol on Heavy Metals requires a periodic review of the progress towards meeting the obligations in the protocol and the sufficiency and effectiveness of those obligations and an evaluation of whether additional emission reductions are warranted.
This multi-journal special issue (SI) is intended to develop the required information that can be scientifically exploited to address key policy questions of the conventions: (1) what are the contributions of anthropogenic emissions and releases and other Hg sources to current Hg levels observed in air, biota, humans, and other media? (2) How have these contribution levels changed over time and over the timeline of the convention? (3) How do the contribution levels and their trends vary geographically at the global scale? (4) What are the contributions of anthropogenic emissions and releases and other drivers to the temporal trends in observed Hg levels across global regions? (5) How are observed Hg levels expected to change in the future?
The special issue aims at collecting relevant research advances arising from the design, implementation, and results of the Multi-Compartment Hg Modeling and Analysis Project (MCHgMAP) and from the scientific community on all aspects of biogeochemical mercury cycling, including primary and secondary emissions, observations, process studies, and single to multi-compartmental and statistical model development and application. A challenge of analysing the fate of emitted mercury is that it can recycle between the atmosphere, land, and ocean, and as a result, past and present emissions can continue to affect the environment on timescales of decades to centuries. MCHgMAP is an ensemble modelling initiative developed to inform the effectiveness of evaluations of the MC and LRTAP, utilizing a coordinated modelling approach between single-medium (atmosphere, land, and ocean) and multi-media mercury models to consistently simulate the changing global and regional environmental Hg cycling and analyse its drivers. The SI includes an overview paper on MCHgMAP, describing its scientific background and design (an important and crucial preparatory stage), which will be referenced by the individual papers on this project that follow.
For this SI we welcome manuscripts on activities such as MIIPs – Model Intercomparison and Improvement Projects that target long-standing issues in the representation of small-scale processes in numerical weather prediction and climate models. The initiatives may have been taken during the 10-year Polar Prediction Project (PPP) that finished at the end of 2022 or during the Polar Coupled Analysis and Prediction for Services (PCAPS) both part of the WMO World Weather Research Program. These programs suggest an emphasis on processes that are especially important for the polar regions, but contributions that are relevant and important for model performance in other regions of the world are also welcome. Specific targets are the representation of stably stratified boundary layers, mixed-phase clouds and atmospheric coupling with snow and or ice-covered surfaces, sea-ice, ocean mixing etc.
The intention of this SI is to publish results from MIIPs that establish new and improved workflows to facilitate a more efficient path to improved process representation. This includes research-grade observations that are packaged in an easy-to-use format which combine high-frequency observations of the surface and the atmosphere above to be able to directly compare with the parameterizations used in models using time-step data. The Merged Data File (MDF) format that is defined for both observations and model output come with a series of tools that is transferable between models and observational data collections for both file production and analysis. The SI especially welcome contributions that build on, or further develop the MDF concept including new variables, types of data, sites or new analysis tools such as process-oriented diagnostics or insights in models using the targeted files.
Climate science, in particular climate prediction and projection, are heavily dependent on the use of Earth system models (ESMs), which are nonlinear, complex, and chaotic representations of the Earth’s spheres. As such, ESMs are susceptible to various sources of uncertainty. These include uncertainty in the initial state, parameter values, model formulation, structure, and external forcing. Ensembles have become a key tool to quantify these uncertainties and improve predictions. However, challenging questions remain regarding how to design and interpret such ensembles within the constraints of limited computational power and the lack of a rigorous framework for their design. Therefore, this special issue will be a valuable resource to climate scientists working on both theoretical and practical aspects of prediction ahead of Phase 7 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP7) and future assessments.
This issue arises from the minisymposium Theoretical and Computational Aspects of Ensemble Design and Interpretation in Climate Science and Modelling
hosted during the SIAM Conference on Mathematical & Computational Issues in Geosciences in Bergen, Norway (19–22 June 2023). It will feature works by participants as well as external contributions.
regional MOM6) creates such a framework, but the extension of MOM6 to high-resolution regional applications presents many challenges.
The papers in this collection present the overall design and implementation of regional MOM6, describe new parameterizations intended for regional applications, present a first generation of regional MOM6 configurations from across the global ocean, and offer select initial applications in ocean science. Advances in horizontal grid generation and boundary condition formulation are highlighted, including those enabling a more seamless transmission of physical and biogeochemical information from global to regional scales and those required to handle flexible Lagrangian vertical coordinates. The robustness of physical and biogeochemical configurations and parameterizations – many of which were developed for global applications – is explored in higher-resolution implementations spanning environments from the Arctic to equatorial waters. Analysis of tradeoffs between model skill and computational cost highlights algorithmic improvements critical for producing decision-relevant ensembles that span a range of ocean futures. The collected works provide a foundation for the expanded application of regional MOM6 to understand and predict ocean conditions across scales.
This is a
traditional stylespecial issue open to all papers within the topic. We anticipate that contributions will be primarily to GMD initially but that there will be a growing number of applications suitable for OS once the core development papers have been published. The indefinite ending date will allow for a greater number of initial applications to be published in OS and enable eventual documentation of
generational updatesplanned for some configurations.
Rapid population growth and urbanization worldwide accelerate eco-environmental and socio-economic stress as well as adverse climatic and health impacts on urban dwellers. Atmospheric modelling research has largely been performed on a horizontal grid spacing of kilometres or larger due to a lack of understanding of the local-scale phenomena, appropriate parameterizations, and adequate modelling tools and computer resources. Urban- to hyperlocal-scale (at street or city block level) air pollution, climate change, and their impacts on population exposure and human health have increasingly received attention from both researchers and policy makers around the world. Several state-of-the-science models have recently been developed for urban- to hyperlocal-scale air pollution modelling, including the street-network model, the Model of Urban Network of Intersecting Canyons and Highways (MUNICH) that incorporates detailed representations of gas-phase chemistry and secondary aerosol formation pathways, and the Street-in-Grid (SinG) model that dynamically combines a 3-D Eulerian chemical–transport model (CTM), Polair3D, with MUNICH. There have been increasing numbers of developers and users for MUNICH, SinG, and other similar coupled 3-D CTMs and urban canyon models for street-level air pollution modelling worldwide, such as CALIOPE-Urban, the Operational Street Pollution Model (OSPM) coupled with the Danish Eulerian Hemispheric Model (DEHM), and the Parallelized Large-Eddy Simulation Model (PALM). Meanwhile, air quality measurement data at hyperlocal scales have become increasingly available for model validation and improvement. Recognizing the urgent need for scientific advancement, pollution and exposure assessment, policy making, and public health protection at urban to hyperlocal scales, we launched a special issue on air quality research at street level in 2018, in which we have published 20 journal papers: https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/special_issue994.html. This special issue (Part II) will continue to advance scientific understanding of local-scale atmospheric phenomena, promote discussion on state-of-the-science urban as well as hyperlocal street- and city-block-level air quality research including measurements, emissions, and model development, and encourage application for complex interactions among urban air pollution, climate, and health. The special issue (Part II) is open for all submissions which address the following themes.
- 3-D Street-in-Grid (SinG) model development and application
- Urban canyon and network model development and its incorporation into 3-D CTMs
- Urban and street-level air quality modelling in support of human exposure assessment
- Impact of urban traffic emissions on air quality and human health at a street level
- Hyperlocal (street and city block scales) air quality measurement and modelling
- Urban infrastructure-induced circulation and its impact on city planning
2022
2021
2020
The loss of mass from glaciers, ice caps, and polar ice sheets has accelerated over the last 3 decades as a result of climate change. This has made land ice the major contributor to sea level rise and the main cause of its acceleration. However, the evolution of the land-based cryosphere over the course of the 21st century and beyond adds considerable uncertainties to sea level rise projections, particularly if instability mechanisms are triggered, leading to rapid retreat of marine basins in Antarctica. Critical knowledge gaps pose challenges for predicting the land ice response to the evolution of climate and the resulting impact on sea level, from cryospheric process understanding, ice sheet and glacier modelling, and coupling with the atmosphere and ocean to bridging the gap with sea level and coastal-impact sciences. This special issue includes contributions related to the following:
- Earth observations that help to constrain glacier and ice sheet surface conditions, dynamics, or mass loss;
- theoretical or numerical modelling of cryospheric processes or coupling with the ocean and atmosphere;
- standalone or coupled projections of ice surface mass balance;
- Arctic and Antarctic ocean conditions promoting and/or responding to ice sheet loss;
- glacier or ice sheet dynamics and mass balance;
- approaches to analysing multi-model ensembles or computing global and regional sea level rise projections;
- coastal impacts of sea level rise and climate change, adaptation needs, and related climate services.
2019
Firedrake provides a model development system which is both high productivity and high performance. Users write high-level code in Python describing the mathematical formulation of a model. The low-level, high-performance, parallel implementation of the algorithm is then automatically generated by a sequence of domain-specific compilers. The user writes maths and gets simulation. Firedrake provides users with a vast range of finite element discretisations, including the compatible finite-element methods which accurately represent the critical force balances in large-scale geoscientific problems. Other important features for the geoscientific user include curved elements and layered meshes, which are key to accurate atmosphere and ocean modelling.
2018
2017
The aim of this Special Issue is to bring together under one roof papers using the TMM as the underlying simulation method. This can range from manuscripts documenting various technical aspects of the TMM framework to those describing new biogeochemical models/parameterizations and their application.
2016
2015
SimSphere is a one-dimensional soil–vegetation–atmosphere transfer model devoted to the study of land surface interactions of the Earth’s system. Since its early development, the model has become highly variable in its application use.
Apart from its use as an educational tool at several universities worldwide, SimSphere is used in a number of research studies related to the examination of hypothetical scenarios examining land surface processes and feedbacks. It is also used synergistically with Earth observation (EO) data to retrieve spatiotemporal estimates of energy fluxes and surface soil moisture, involving exploration studies on the development of related operational products.
This special issue hosts contributions concerned with descriptions of further upgrades of SimSphere or its exploitation in any way. It comprises articles on model developments or applications involving the model; this includes – but is not limited to – studies exploring hypothetical scenario examination, model validation, sensitivity analysis and synergies of it with EO data.
2013
This Special Issue aims to collect technical and scientific manuscripts dealing with evaluation of model skill and performance as well as development of NEMO components. Submitted manuscripts can cover a wide variety of topics, including process studies, new parameterizations, implementation of new model features and new NEMO configurations. The main scope is to collect relevant and state of the art manuscripts to provide the NEMO users with a single portal to search, discover and understand about the NEMO modelling framework potential and evolution and submit their contributions.
iLOVECLIM is an intermediate complexity fully coupled climate Earth system model that aims at computation and understanding of the climate system on a millennial timescale. It is a code fork from the LOVECLIM climate model version 1.2. From its forerunner, iLOVECLIM retains only the physical climate components (atmosphere–ocean–terrestrial vegetation modules). It is developed further to progressively include the components necessary for multi-millennia palaeoclimate and future climate experiments. As such, iLOVECLIM is a tool designed to enhance the integration of model simulations and (palaeo-)data, with an emphasis on the simulation of isotopic tracers throughout all components of the climate system, as indicated by the i- prefix. The present, time-unlimited special issue hosts the technical documentation of the current version of iLOVECLIM as well as model evaluation manuscripts.
2012
The NorESM publications in this special issue address a range of NorESM versions. The first set of model versions delivered results to CMIP5. NorESM1-M is run concentration-driven for greenhouse gases (GHGs) and is based on CCSM4 (released 1 April 2010), while NorESM1-ME can be run emission-driven for GHGs and is based on CESM1 (released 1 July 2010). A low-resolution version, NorESM1-L, was developed mainly for paleo-climate simulations. New versions of NorESM are underway: NorESM1.X, where X indicates updates of the NorESM1 versions, and NorESM2, which is intended to contribute to CMIP6. Further versions will follow thereafter. NorESM includes the following: its own developed code for chemistry–aerosol–cloud–radiation interactions (CAM-Oslo) and enhancements of the dynamics/physics of the atmospheric module; alternative parameterization of surface turbulent fluxes; an isopycnic coordinate ocean model originating from the Miami Isopycnic Coordinate Ocean Model (MICOM) but developed further; and the HAMburg Ocean Carbon Cycle (HAMOCC) model developed at the Max Plank Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg and adapted to the isopycnic coordinate ocean model framework.
Papers developed for full validation (CMIP-DECK) or more specific evaluation of the NorESM versions and further developments of these are welcome in this special issue. Authors intending to contribute papers to this special issue should contact the coordinators (Mats Bentsen and Michael Schulz), e.g., to ensure the consistency of version names and numbers.
2011
2008
FAMOUS is climate model based on the widely used "HadCM3" atmosphere–ocean general circulation code, a version of the UK Met Office Unified Model. Run at a lower resolution than HadCM3, its computational requirements make it suitable for large ensembles and millennial-scale climate simulations. This ongoing special issue collects technical documentation and evaluations of the model climatology as FAMOUS is developed and coupled to models of other Earth system components.
2005
The strategy follows a bottom-up approach, meaning that the various processes and diagnostic tools are implemented as so-called submodels, which are technically independent of each other and strictly separated from the underlying technical model infrastructure, such as memory management, input/output, flow-control, etc.
The MESSy software provides generalized interfaces for the standardized control and interconnection (coupling) of these submodels.
The present time-unlimited Special Issue hosts scientific and technical documentation and evaluation manuscripts concerned with the Modular Earth Submodel System and the models build upon it. Moreover, it comprises manuscripts about scientific applications involving these models.