HR: 08:00h
AN: C31B-01 INVITED     [Abstracts]
TI: Sea Ice Albedo Feedback in the Coupled Climate System
AU: * Curry, J A
EM: curryja@eas.gatech.edu
AF: Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Dr, Atlanta, GA 30332-0340 United States
AB: This paper addresses the issue of how we can constructively use the concept of feedback in evaluating and improving climate models. For the sea ice albedo feedback, a critical issue in assessing the model parameterizations is how you configure the system. "Stand alone" models of the atmosphere, sea ice or ocean each have internal feedbacks, and are "forced" at the boundary. Coupled models of the atmosphere, sea ice, and ocean introduce additional nonlinearities and feedbacks into the system that are associated primarily with processes occurring at the interfaces of these subsystems. Subsystem models are formulated and evaluated in ways where the interface is "forced", and so these critical interfacial processes do not receive adequate attention in the model parameterizations. Based upon process modelling and observational studies conducted for SHEBA, an assessment of potentially important missing processes in climate models is given. A strategy is presented for using the concept of feedback in improving climate model parameterizations that includes investigation of the parameterization in a hierarchy of models of different complexity to understand the impact of the parameterization and its role in the modeled feedbacks.
DE: 0750 Sea ice (4540)
DE: 1620 Climate dynamics (0429, 3309)
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005