Surface Climate, Variability and Change
Contact: Elisa Manzini (elisa.manzini@zmaw.de)
Summary: The aim of this DynVar Research Group is to reveal the role of a well-resolved dynamical stratosphere on surface climate, variability and change by comparing the high top and low top multi-model ensembles available within CMIP5. The focus is on middle-high latitude surface climate, intra-seasonal and inter-annual variability diagnosed by meteorological quantities including MSLP, 2m-T and precipitation. Given that from the DynVar Workshop it emerged that most of the high top models are / will be applied to run the centennial CMIP5 simulations, the change in climate and variability will be analyzed by comparing the last decades of the 20th and 21st centuries. For the interpretation of the high / low top model inter-comparison, it will be crucial to have information on the performance of the high top (and low top) models in the stratosphere.