Multi-Scale Synthesis and Terrestrial Model Intercomparison Project (MsTMIP): 1: Overview and Simulation Protocol

Deborah N. Huntzinger, Northern Arizona University, deborah.huntzinger@nau.edu (Presenter)
Kevin M. Schaefer, National Snow and Ice Data Center, kevin.schaefer@nsidc.org
Robert B. Cook, Environmental Sciences Division, ORNL, cookrb@ornl.gov
Andy Jacobson, NOAA, andy.jacobson@noaa.gov
Anna M. Michalak, Stanford University, michalak@stanford.edu
Wilfred M. Post, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, wmp@ornl.gov
Schwalm R. Christopher, Northern Arizona University, christopher.schwalm@nau.edu
Yaxing Wei, ORNL, weiy@ornl.gov

The North American Carbon Program (NACP) Multi-Scale Synthesis and Terrestrial Model Intercomparison Project (MsTMIP) is a formal multi-scale synthesis with standardized simulations and prescribed environmental drivers shared among ~ 20 modeling teams. The MsTMIP has an overall goal of providing feedback to the TBM community in order to improve the diagnosis and attribution of carbon fluxes at regional and global scales. This project builds upon current and past synthesis activities by developing an integrative framework that all TBMs can use as a tool to continually evaluate overall model performance against a consistent set of observational constraints. The simulation protocol includes both global simulations, run at a 0.5°×0.5° spatial resolution, and regional simulations over North America, run at a spatial resolution of 0.25°×0.25°. The simulations are broken down into reference simulations to track model drift, baseline simulations to obtain a model’s best estimate of land-atmosphere carbon exchange, and sensitivity simulations to systematically test the impact of climate variability, CO2 fertilization, nitrogen limitation, and land cover / land-use change on carbon exchange. A key component of the MsTMIP activity is to evaluate model performance, from the period 1980 to 2010, against observations through a set of quantitative performance measures and metrics based on inventory and flux tower-based observations. By prescribing standard spin-up procedures, input data sets, and output parameter formats, we can quantify and diagnose any biases and uncertainties in TBM estimates of regional and global carbon budgets resulting from differences in model formulation and parametrization. This information will ultimately aid in quantifying the uncertainty associated with reproducing the current state of the terrestrial carbon cycle and improving model predictions of land-atmosphere carbon exchange.

Presentation Type:  Poster

Session:  Coupled Processes at Land-Atmosphere-Ocean Interfaces   (Mon 4:00 PM)

Associated Project(s): 

• Michalak, Anna: The North American Carbon Program Multi-Scale Synthesis and Terrestrial Model Intercomparison Project ...details

Poster Location ID: 5