Atmospheric radiation budgets are strongly affected by the horizontal and vertical distributions of cloud systems. With the horizontal resolution of several hundred kilometers in general circulation models (GCMs), parameterization of cloud vertical overlap and horizontal inhomogeneity in radiation schemes has long been a major challenge for climate simulations (Stephens 1984; Stephens et al. 20...

Mozambique, like many African countries, is already highly susceptible to climate variability and extreme weather events. Climate change threatens to heighten this vulnerability. In order to evaluate potential impacts and adaptation options for Mozambique, we develop an integrated modelling framework that translates atmospheric changes from general circulation model projections into biophysical...

Atmospheric Modeling with High-Order Finite-Volume Methods by Paul Aaron Ullrich Chair: Christiane Jablonowski This thesis demonstrates the versatility of high-order finite-volume methods for atmospheric general circulation models. In many research areas, these numerical methods have been shown to be robust and accurate, and further have many properties which make them desirable for modeling at...

Arctic sea ice is declining at an increasing rate with potentially important repercussions. To understand better the atmospheric changes that may have occurred in response to Arctic sea ice loss, this study presents results from atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) experiments in which the only time-varying forcings prescribedwere observed variations inArctic sea ice and accompanying ch...

[1] The stability of the glacial thermohaline circulation (THC) with respect to North Atlantic freshwater input is examined using a global ocean general circulation model. It is found that the quasi-equilibrium hysteresis behaviour is much less pronounced under glacial conditions than under present-day conditions, and the existence of multiple equilibria requires an anomalous freshwater inflow....

This study examines the response of the tropical atmospheric and oceanic circulation to increasing greenhouse gases using a coordinated set of twenty-first-century climate model experiments performed for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4). The strength of the atmospheric overturning circulation decreases as the climate warms in all IPCC AR4 model...