3. Modelling the climate system

• 3.1 Introduction
  • 3.1.1 What is a climate model ?
  • 3.1.2 Types of models
  
  
• 3.2 A hierarchy of models
  • 3.2.1 Energy balance models
  • 3.2.2 Intermediate complexity models
  • 3.2.3 General circulation models
  
  
• 3.3 Components of a climate model
  • 3.3.1 Atmosphere
  • 3.3.2 Ocean
  • 3.3.3 Sea ice
  • 3.3.4 Land surface
  • 3.3.5 Marine biogeochemistry
  • 3.3.6 Ice sheets
  • 3.3.7 Coupling between the components - Earth system models
  
  
• 3.4 Numerical resolution of the equations
  • 3.4.1 Consistence, convergence and stability
  • 3.4.2 Time and space discretisations using finite differences
  • 3.4.3 Spectral representation and finite element methods
  
  
• 3.5 Testing the validity of models
  • 3.5.1 Verification, validation, testing
  • 3.5.2 Evaluating model performance
  
  
• Cited references and further reading

• Exercises

• Web links