Review Article

A Review of Water Isotopes in Atmospheric General Circulation Models: Recent Advances and Future Prospects

Table 1

Selected isotope-enabled AGCMs and their characteristics.

Isotope-enabled AGCMsReferencesResolutionsTimestepInput data

CAM2 
(Community Atmosphere Model)1
Lee et al. [22]
Lee and Fung [27]
~2.8°  ×  2.8° 
26 vertical levels
20 minsFree-running with climatological monthly mean SSTs

ECHAM5-wiso2Werner et al. [25]~3.8°  ×  3.8° 
19 vertical levels 
(adjustable)
40 mins
(adjustable to 4 mins)
Free-running with climatological monthly mean SSTs

GISS ModelE 
(Goddard Institute for Space Studies)3
as known as GissE
Schmidt et al. [58]
Schmidt et al. [31]
4°  ×  5° 
23 vertical levels 
(adjustable)
0.5 hrs
(adjustable)
Nudged by reanalysis
or free-running

IsoGSM 
(Isotope-incorporated Global Spectral Model)
Yoshimura et al. [32]
Yoshimura et al. [29]
1.85°  ×  1.85° 
17 vertical levels
NA6Nudged by reanalysis
(designed for spectral nudging)

HadCM3 
(Hadley Centre Coupled Model, V3)4
Tindall et al. [18]2.5°  ×  3.75° 
19 vertical levels
0.5 hrsfree-running with climatological monthly mean SSTs

MIROC3.2 
(Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate)
Kurita et al. [49]1.1°  ×  1.1° 
40 vertical levels
20 minsRun with climatological monthly mean SSTs, nudged by horizontal winds

MUGCM 
(Melbourne University GCM)
Noone and Simmonds [13]3.25°  ×  5.625° 
9 vertical levels
20 minsFree-running with climatological monthly mean SSTs

LMDZ4 
(Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique)5
Hourdin et al. [59] 
Risi [14] 
Risi et al. [33]
Standard 
2.5°  ×  3.75° 
19 vertical levels
3 minsNudged by reanalysis
or free-running

GENESIS GCM 
(Global Environmental and Ecological Simulation of Interactive Systems)
Mathieu et al. [26]~3.75°  ×  3.75° 
18 vertical levels
0.5 hrsFree-running with climatological monthly mean SSTs

Another version of the model is CAM3.
2Other versions of the model are ECHAM3 and ECHAM4.
3Another version of the model is GISS II.
4The coupled model contains an atmospheric component (HadAM3) and oceanic component (HadOM3).
5Another version of the model is LMD.
6NA stands for not available.