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Studying global climate change with PlaSim

Fast variability (at meteorological timescales) in the Planet Simulator model for different concentration levels of a greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide)
The PlaSim model in action with its graphical interface. The panels show the evolution in time during a single simulation year of some atmospheric variables. The top panels show global maps (lon-lat) of (from left to right): 1) relative vorticity - a measure of the rotation speed of atmospheric eddies; 2) surface air temperature ; 3) precipitable water - the maass of water vapour in the atmospheric column. The lower panels show vertical sections, averaged along latitude circles, called "zonal" (latitude-height (in pressure units)), with (from left to right): 4) zonal component of wind; 5) air temperature. The last panel in the lower right corner shows some timeseries of global averages, over a time window of 5 days.
 
  Choose the CO2 concentration:
     
 

Description of the experiment

These are experiments with the numerical climate model of intermediate complexity Planet Simulator (PlaSim) developed by the University of Hamburg.

The video shows the model running for a single year with its graphical interface active. Pass the mouse on the image for more details.

These are "permanent" experiments, in which the greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere are maintained at a fixed level. They show what climate we could expect in the model, if a given CO2 level persisted for many years. Every experiment is shown after allowing the model to run for 50 years, in order to allow it to reach an equilibrium. The resolution of the global model grid is about 2.8 degrees (about 300 Km).

You may change the CO2 level, ranging from levels typical for preindustrial times (250 parts per million (ppm)), a value close to present-day (400 ppm), and a very high value, close to what projected by some climate scenarios for the end of this century (900 ppm).

An updated version of the PlaSim source code (in Fortran language) is available on Github.

Simulations by Michela Angeloni (UniBO e ISAC-CNR), graphics and webpage by Jost von Hardenberg (PoliTO).