Coupled climate system models are of central importance for climate studies. A new model known as FGOALS ( the Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System model), has been developed by the Sate Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (LASG/IAP, CAS), a first-tier national geophysical laboratory. It serves as a powerful tool, both for deepening our understanding of fundamental mechanisms of the climate system and for making decadal prediction and scenario projections of future climate change. "Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System Model: A Modeling Tool for the Climate Change Research Community” is the first book to offer systematic evaluations of this model’s performance. It is comprehensive in scope, covering both developmental and application-oriented aspects of this climate system model. It also provides an outlook of future development of FGOALS and offers an overview of how to employ the model. It represents a valuable reference work for researchers and professionals working within the related areas of climate variability and change. Prof. Tianjun Zhou, Yongqiang Yu, Yimin Liu and Bin Wang work at LASG, the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

This paper documents version 1 of the Finite-volume Atmospheric Model of the IAP/LASG (FAMIL1), which has a flexible horizontal resolution up to a quarter of 1°. The model, currently running on the ''Tianhe 1A'' supercomputer, is the atmospheric component of the third-generation Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land climate System model (FGOALS3) which will participate in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6). In addition to describing the dynamical core and physical parameterizations of FAMIL1, this paper describes the simulated characteristics of energy and water balances and compares them with observational/reanalysis data. The comparisons indicate that the model simulates well the seasonal and geographical distributions of radiative fluxes at the top of the atmosphere and at the surface, as well as the surface latent and sensible heat fluxes. A major weakness in the energy balance is identified in the regions where extensive and persistent marine stratocumulus is present. Analysis of the global water balance also indicates realistic seasonal and geographical distributions with the global annual mean of evaporation minus precipitation being approximately 10−5 mm d−1. We also examine the connections between the global energy and water balance and discuss the possible link between the two within the context of the findings from the reanalysis data. Finally, the model biases as well as possible solutions are discussed.

This book contains tutorial and review articles as well as specific research letters that cover a wide range of topics: (1) dynamics of atmospheric variability from both basic theory and data analysis, (2) physical and mathematical problems in climate modeling and numerical weather prediction, (3) theories of atmospheric radiative transfer and their applications in satellite remote sensing, and (4) mathematical and statistical methods. The book can be used by undergraduates or graduate students majoring in atmospheric sciences, as an introduction to various research areas; and by researchers and educators, as a general review or quick reference in their fields of interest.

This book is based on the project “Development and Validation of High Resolution Climate System Models” with the support of the National Key Basic Research Project under grant No. 2010CB951900. It demonstrates the major advances in the development of new, dynamical Atmospheric General Circulation Model (AGCM) and Ocean General Circulation Model (OGCM) cores that are suitable for high resolution modeling, the improvement of model physics, and the design of a flexible, multi-model ensemble coupling framework. It is a useful reference for graduate students, researchers and professionals working in the related areas of climate modeling and climate change. Prof. Rucong Yu works at the China Meteorological Administration; Prof. Tianjun Zhou works at LASG, the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Tongwen Wu works at Beijing Climate Center, China Meteorological Administration; Associate Prof. Wei Xue works at the Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University; Prof. Guangqing Zhou works at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP), Chinese Academy of Sciences.