COLA Report 51

The COLA Atmosphere-Biosphere General Circulation Model Volume: 1 Formulation

James Kinter, David DeWitt, Paul Dirmeyer, Mike Fennessy, Ben Kirtman, Larry Marx, Edwin Schneider, J. Shukla, and David Straus

October 1997


Preface

This report documents the current version (1.12) of the Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies atmospheric general circulation and land surface biosphere model is documented. The governing equations for atmospheric motion and thermodynamics as well as descriptions of the full set of subgrid scale physical parameterizations are provided.

The model is suitable for global studies on monthly, seasonal and interannual time scales. A large body of scientific research has been conducted with this model, and it is currently in use worldwide for both research and operational forecasting of the Earth's atmosphere. A companion report will be released soon that provides information on how to use the model.

Since the model evolves as more is learned about its behavior and its fidelity to the observations of the Earth's atmosphere, this report is merely a "snapshot" of the current state of the model. We are distributing this report in both print and electronic form so that documentation of future revisions of the model can be rapidly disseminated via the World Wide Web. Please se the following URL for the latest version of this document: http://grads.iges.org/agcm/ companion report use the model. Complete copies of this report are available from: address>Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies
4041 Powder Mill Road, Suite 302
Calverton, MD 20705-3106
(301) 595-7000
(301) 595-9793 Fax


last update: 6 April 1999
comments to: www@grads.iges.org