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The NCAR spectral element climate dynamical core: Semi-implicit eulerian formulation

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Abstract

A prototype dynamical core for the Community Atmospheric Model (CAM) component of the Community Climate System Model (CCSM) is presented. The 3D governing primitive equations are specified in curvilinear coordinates on the cubed-sphere combined with a hybrid pressureη vertical coordinate. The horizontal space discretisation is based on a ℙ N − ℙ N spectral element variational formulation. A semi-implicit time integration scheme is derived in order to circumvent the severe time step restrictions associated with gravity waves. Eigen-mode decomposition of the vertical structure matrix results in a set of decoupled 2D modified Helmholtz problems which are solved using a preconditioned conjugate gradient iteration. An idealized climate simulation is presented, where the semi-implicit scheme permits a much larger time step.

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  1. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO

    S. J. Thomas & R. D. Loft

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  1. S. J. Thomas
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  2. R. D. Loft
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Correspondence to S. J. Thomas.

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Thomas, S.J., Loft, R.D. The NCAR spectral element climate dynamical core: Semi-implicit eulerian formulation. J Sci Comput 25, 307–322 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02728993

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02728993

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