Evaluation of cloud and radiation parameterizations using a long-term data set produced by a single-column model forced with NCEP GSM data

The single-column model (SCM) is a diagnostic model resembling a single vertical column of a 3-dimensional general circulation model (GCM). The SCM includes physical parameterizations currently in use in many modern GCMs. Due to the one-dimensionality of the SCM, the horizontal advection of heat, moisture and momentum are supplied to the SCM from either observations or 3-dimensional numerical analyses. The use of forcing terms from 3-D models allows evaluation of parameterization performance during individual synoptic events or on seasonal (or longer) timescales.

In this study, the SCM utilizes forcing data derived from daily forecasts of the NCEP Global Spectral Model (GSM). The continuous data set of SCM results dating from May 2000 is analyzed at the three Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program sites located in the U.S. Southern Great Plains (SGP), the Tropical West Pacific (TWP), and the North Slope of Alaska (NSA). Measurements from the ARM Program at these three sites are used to evaluate model parameterizations.