Identification

Title

Issues related to the use of one-dimensional ocean-diffusion models for determining climate sensitivity

Abstract

While simple models of the Earth's ocean can provide useful information about the sensitivity of the climate to increasing greenhouse gases, it is important to ensure that the models are based on realistic physical processes and are evaluated with an accurate numerical methodology. In this regard, a number of computational issues are identified and addressed to guide the development of simplified models. To illustrate these issues, we examine a previously published one-dimensional diffusion model. Treatment of the boundary conditions, advection, ocean depth, and thermal diffusivity are addressed. Questionable omission of 30% of the Earth's surface and the application of a very local phenomenon as a global process is also discussed. It is shown that incorrect treatment of these issues can give non-physical results and lead to mistaken conclusions about the sensitivity of the Earth to rising greenhouse gas concentrations.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7xk8gjc

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

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Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2014-09-25T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

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Conformity

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name of format

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Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Copyright: 2014 Abraham JP, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact