A general circulation experiment with a coupled atmosphere, ocean and sea ice model.

This paper describes the construction and results of a comprehensive, three-dimensional general circulation model (GCM) of the earth's climate. The model, developed at the National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) , links separate existing models of the atmosphere, ocean and sea ice. The atmospheric model is a version of the third-generation NCAR GCM which has a relatively complete treatment of physical processes. It uses a generalized vertical coordinate with eight layers (3 km thick) and 5SUP horizontal grid spacing over the entire globe. The ocean model, using the primitive equations and the hydrostatic and Boussinesq approximations , was changed to the world domain from an earlier model developed by Bryan (1969) and reprogrammed by Semtner (1974). The model has four unequally spaced vertical layers and 5SUP horizontal grid structure. The sea ice model is a simple thermodynamic model using simplified calculation of heat flux through sea ice. (from authors abstract)