Control run simulations with constant CO2 from 12 different coupled Ocean Atmosphere GCMs (with sea-ice) participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP II) are analyzed. Half of the models studied do not employ any "flux adjustment", while the rest employ some flux adjustment scheme. Monthly mean data for surface air temperature, sea level pressure, and precipitation are compared with the NCEP and ERA15 reanalyses to quantify errors. Flux-adjusted and non flux-adjusted models are investigated for any systematic differences in the simulations. The model data are analyzed over different regions of interest and over seasonal and inter-annual time scales to isolate strengths and weaknesses of models in simulating present-day climate. We find that Coupled GCMs simulate the climatology of surface air temperature better than that of precipitation, with an intermediate skill in sea level pressure simulation. The flux corrected models seem to perform better albeit marginally.
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