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Experiment name

Extended Description

historical

The historical experiment is a simulation of the recent past from 1850 to 2014, it is performed with a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model (AOGCM). In the historical simulations the model is forced with changing conditions (consistent with observations) which include atmospheric composition, land use and solar forcing. The initial conditions for the historical simulation are taken from the pre-industrial control simulation (piControl) at a point where the remaining length of the piControl is sufficient to extend beyond the period of the historical simulation to the end of any future "scenario" simulations run by the same model. The historical simulation is used to evaluate model performance against present climate and observed climate change.

ssp585

ssp585 is a scenario experiment extending into the near future from 2015 to 2100, it is performed with a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model (AOGCM). The forcing for the CMIP6 SSP experiments is derived from shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs), a set of emission scenarios driven by different socioeconomic assumptions, paired with representative concentration pathways (RCPs), global forcing pathways which lead to specific end of century radiative forcing targets. ssp585 is based on SSP5 in which climate change mitigation challenges dominate and RCP8.5, a future pathway with a radiative forcing of 8.5 W/m2 in the year 2100. The ssp585 scenario represents the high end of plausible future forcing pathways.  ssp585 is comparable to the CMIP5 experiment RCP8.5.

ssp370

ssp370 is a scenario experiment extending into the near future from 2015 to 2100, it is performed with a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model (AOGCM). The forcing for the CMIP6 SSP experiments is derived from shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs), a set of emission scenarios driven by different socioeconomic assumptions, paired with representative concentration pathways (RCPs), global forcing pathways which lead to specific end of century radiative forcing targets. ssp370 is based on SSP3 in which climate change mitigation and adaptation challenges are high and RCP7.0, a future pathway with a radiative forcing of 7.0 W/m2 in the year 2100. The ssp370 scenario represents the medium to high end of plausible future forcing pathways. ssp370 fills a gap in the CMIP5 forcing pathways that is particularly important because it represents a forcing level common to several (unmitigated) SSP baseline pathways.

ssp245

ssp245 is a scenario experiment extending into the near future from 2015 to 2100, it is performed with a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model (AOGCM). The forcing for the CMIP6 SSP experiments is derived from shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs), a set of emission scenarios driven by different socioeconomic assumptions, paired with representative concentration pathways (RCPs), global forcing pathways which lead to specific end of century radiative forcing targets. ssp245 is based on SSP2 with intermediate climate change mitigation and adaptation challenges and RCP4.5, a future pathway with a radiative forcing of 4.5 W/m2 in the year 2100. The ssp245 scenario represents the medium part of plausible future forcing pathways. ssp245 is comparable to the CMIP5 experiment RCP4.5.

ssp126

ssp126 is a scenario experiment extending into the near future from 2015 to 2100, it is performed with a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model (AOGCM). The forcing for the CMIP6 SSP experiments is derived from shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs), a set of emission scenarios driven by different socioeconomic assumptions, paired with representative concentration pathways (RCPs), global forcing pathways which lead to specific end of century radiative forcing targets. ssp126 is based on SSP1 with low climate change mitigation and adaptation challenges and RCP2.6, a future pathway with a radiative forcing of 2.6 W/m2 in the year 2100. The ssp126 scenario represents the low end of plausible future forcing pathways. ssp126 depicts a "best case" future from a sustainability perspective.

ssp460

ssp460 is a scenario experiment extending into the near future from 2015 to 2100, it is performed with a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model (AOGCM). The forcing for the CMIP6 SSP experiments is derived from shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs), a set of emission scenarios driven by different socioeconomic assumptions, paired with representative concentration pathways (RCPs), global forcing pathways which lead to specific end of century radiative forcing targets. ssp460 is based on SSP4 in which climate change adaptation challenges dominate and RCP6.0, a future pathway with a radiative forcing of 6.0 W/m2 in the year 2100. The ssp460 scenario fills in the range of medium plausible future forcing pathways. ssp370 defines the low end of the forcing range for unmitigated SSP baseline scenarios.

ssp434

ssp434 is a scenario experiment extending into the near future from 2015 to 2100, it is performed with a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model (AOGCM). The forcing for the CMIP6 SSP experiments is derived from shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs), a set of emission scenarios driven by different socioeconomic assumptions, paired with representative concentration pathways (RCPs), global forcing pathways which lead to specific end of century radiative forcing targets. ssp434 is based on SSP4 in which climate change adaptation challenges dominate and RCP3.4, a future pathway with a radiative forcing of 3.4 W/m2 in the year 2100. The ssp434 scenario fills a gap at the low end of the range of plausible future forcing pathways. ssp370 is of interest to mitigation policy since mitigation costs differ substantially between forcing levels of 4.5 W/m2 and 2.6 W/m2.

ssp534-over

ssp534-over is a scenario experiment with simulations beginning in the mid-21st century running from 2040 to 2100, it is performed with a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model (AOGCM). The forcing for the CMIP6 SSP experiments is derived from shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs), a set of emission scenarios driven by different socioeconomic assumptions, paired with representative concentration pathways (RCPs), global forcing pathways which lead to specific end of century radiative forcing targets. ssp534-over is based on SSP5 in which climate change mitigation challenges dominate and RCP3.4-over, a future pathway with a peak and decline in forcing towards an eventual radiative forcing of 3.4 W/m2 in the year 2100. The ssp534-over scenario branches from ssp585 in the year 2040 whereupon it applies substantially negative net emissions. ssp534-over explores the climate science and policy implications of a peak and decline in forcing during the 21st century. ssp534 fills a gap in existing climate simulations by investigating the implications of a substantial overshoot in radiative forcing relative to a longer-term target.

ssp119

ssp119 is a scenario experiment extending into the near future from 2015 to 2100, it is performed with a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model (AOGCM). The forcing for the CMIP6 SSP experiments is derived from shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs), a set of emission scenarios driven by different socioeconomic assumptions, paired with representative concentration pathways (RCPs), global forcing pathways which lead to specific end of century radiative forcing targets. ssp119 is based on SSP1 with low climate change mitigation and adaptation challenges and RCP1.9, a future pathway with a radiative forcing of 1.9 W/m2 in the year 2100. The ssp119 scenario fills a gap at the very low end of the range of plausible future forcing pathways. ssp119 forcing will be substantially below ssp126 in 2100. There is policy interest in low-forcing scenarios that would inform a possible goal of limiting global mean warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels based on the Paris COP21 agreement[1].

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Models, grids and pressure levels

Models 

The models included in the CDS-CMIP6 subset are detailed in the table below including a brief description of the model where this information is readily available, further details can be found on the Earth System Documentation site.

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 The main aim of the quality control procedure is to check for metadata and gross data errors in the CMIP6 files and datasets. A brief description of each of the QC checks is provided here:

  1. CF-Checks: The CF-checker[1] tool  tool checks that each NetCDF4 file in a given dataset is compliant with the Climate and Forecast (CF) conventions[2], compliance ensures that the files are interoperable across a range of software tools.
  2. PrePARE: The PrePARE[3] software  software tool is provided by PCMDI (Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison) to verify that CMIP6 files conform to the CMIP6 data protocol. All CMIP6 data should meet this required standard however this check is included to ensure that all data supplied to the CDS have passed this QC test.
  3. nctime: The nctime[4] checker  checker checks the temporal axis of the NetCDF files. For each NetCDF file the temporal element of the file is compared with the time axis data within the file to ensure consistency. For a time-series of data comprised of several NetCDF files nctime ensures that the entire timeseries is complete, that there are no temporal gaps or overlaps in either the filename or in the time axes within the files.
  4. Errata: The dataset is checked to ensure that no outstanding Errata record exists.
  5. Data Ranges: A set of tests on the extreme values of the variables are performed, this is used to ensure that the values of the variables fall into physically realistic ranges.
  6. Handle record consistency checks: This check ensures that the version of the dataset used is the most recently published dataset by the modelling centre, it also checks for any inconsistency in the ESGF publication and excludes any datasets that may have an inconsistent ESGF publication metadata.
  7. Exists at all partner sites: It is asserted that each dataset exists at all three partner sites CEDA, DKRZ and IPSL.

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 In cases where the quality control picks up errors that are related to minor technical details of the conventions, or behavior that is in line with expectations for climate model output despite being unexpected in a physical system, the data will be published with details of the errors referenced in the documentation. An example of the 2nd type of error is given by negative salinity values which occur in one model as a result of rapid release of fresh water from melting sea-ice. These negative values are part of the noise associated with the numerical simulation and reflect what is happening in the numerical model.

[1] https://github.com/cedadev/cf-checker

[2] http://cfconventions.org/

[3] https://cmor.llnl.gov/mydoc_cmip6_validator/

[4] https://github.com/Prodiguer/nctime

Citation and license information

Citation and license information

The CMIP6 data Citation Service The CMIP6 data Citation Service provides information for data users on how to cite CMIP6 data and on the data license. The long-term availability and long-term accessibility are granted by the use of DOIs for the landing page e.g http://doi.org/10.22033/ESGF/CMIP6.1317.

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CDS users will now be able to apply subsetting operations to CMIP6 datasets. This mechanism [1] that (the "roocs" WPS framework) that runs at each of the partner sites: CEDA, DKRZ and IPSL. The WPS can receive requests for processing based on dataset identifiers, a temporal range, a bounding box and a range of vertical levels. Each request is converted to a job that is run asynchronously on the processing servers at the partner sites. NetCDF files are generated and the response contains download links to each of the files. Users of the CDS will be able to make subsetting selections using the web forms provided by the CDS catalogue web-interface. More advanced users will be able to define their own API requests that will call the WPS. Output files will be automatically retrieved so that users can access them directly within the CDS.

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 Walkthrough and screenshots need to be provided by CDS team[1] The "roocs" WPS framework: https://roocs.github.io/

References

Durack, P J. (2020) CMIP6_CVs. v6.2.53.5. Available at: https://github.com/WCRP-CMIP/CMIP6_CVs (Accessed: 26 October 2020).

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