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DOE OSTI · 3363920

Observational Data for Next-Generation Climate Model Evaluation: Requirements, Considerations, and Best Practices

Beadling, Rebecca L. [Temple Univ., Philadelphia, PA (United States)]·Swaminathan, Ranjini [Univ. of Reading (United Kingdom)] (ORCID:0000000158532673)·Beucher, Romain [Australian Climate Simulator (ACCESS-NRI), Canberra, ACT (Australia)]·Blockley, Ed [United Kingdom Meteorological Office, Exeter, Devon (United Kingdom)]·Brands, Swen [Instituto de Física de Cantabria (CSIC-UC), Santander (Spain)]·Hassler, Birgit [German Aerospace Center (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen (Germany)]·Hegedűs, Dora [Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot (United Kingdom)]·Hoffman, Forrest M. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000158024134)·Lee, Jiwoo [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)]·Lewis, Jared [Climate Resource Pty Ltd., Melbourne, VIC (Australia)]·Lu, Jianhua [Sun Yat-Sen Univ., Guangzhou (China); Guangdong Laboratory, Zhuhai (China)]·Malinina, Elizaveta [Univ. of Victoria, BC (Canada). Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)]·Medeiros, Brian [NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)]·Scoccimarro, Enrico [Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC Foundation), Lecce (Italy)]·Tjiputra, Jerry [NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Bergen (Norway). Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research (BCCR)]·Turner, Briony [Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot (United Kingdom)]·Watson-Parris, Duncan [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)]
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Abstract

Climate model simulations are an important source of information about our planet’s climate system and also enable informed decision-making under different future scenarios. As a new archive of results from the next generation of climate models is anticipated to become available with the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 7 (CMIP7), the need to develop efficient and robust methods to evaluate models is paramount. Observations are an integral part of model evaluation, providing a means to quantify and understand the degree to which climate models can faithfully reproduce Earth system processes. Such analysis is critical for constraining climate projections, identifying areas of focus for model development, and assisting analysts in deciphering the utility of models for specific applications. Observations of Earth system come from a diversity of sources, span different space–time domains, and are produced by different communities, and each dataset features different data structures and formats, metadata standards, and its own unique uncertainties. Uncertainties in an observational dataset may stem from gaps in temporal and spatial coverage, instrumentation errors, or assumptions in retrieval and processing methods. How then does one ensure that observational data are ready for use and utilized in the most appropriate way for robust, rapid, and routine climate model evaluation? The CMIP7 Model Benchmarking Task Team with input from the broader climate modeling, model evaluation, and observational data communities present a vision and considerations for best practices toward the optimal and appropriate use of observational data to support next-generation climate model evaluation.

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Beadling, Rebecca L. [Temple Univ., Philadelphia, PA (United States)], Swaminathan, Ranjini [Univ. of Reading (United Kingdom)] (ORCID:0000000158532673), Beucher, Romain [Australian Climate Simulator (ACCESS-NRI), Canberra, ACT (Australia)], Blockley, Ed [United Kingdom Meteorological Office, Exeter, Devon (United Kingdom)], Brands, Swen [Instituto de Física de Cantabria (CSIC-UC), Santander (Spain)], Hassler, Birgit [German Aerospace Center (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen (Germany)], Hegedűs, Dora [Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot (United Kingdom)], Hoffman, Forrest M. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000158024134), Lee, Jiwoo [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)], Lewis, Jared [Climate Resource Pty Ltd., Melbourne, VIC (Australia)], Lu, Jianhua [Sun Yat-Sen Univ., Guangzhou (China); Guangdong Laboratory, Zhuhai (China)], Malinina, Elizaveta [Univ. of Victoria, BC (Canada). Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)], Medeiros, Brian [NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)], Scoccimarro, Enrico [Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC Foundation), Lecce (Italy)], Tjiputra, Jerry [NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Bergen (Norway). Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research (BCCR)], Turner, Briony [Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot (United Kingdom)], Watson-Parris, Duncan [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)]. 2026-04-01. Observational Data for Next-Generation Climate Model Evaluation: Requirements, Considerations, and Best Practices. https://doi.org/10.1175/bams-d-25-0079.1

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