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Reducing the computational cost of weather and climate simulations would lower electric energy consumption. From the standpoint of reducing costs, the use of reduced precision arithmetic has become an active area of research. Here the impact of using single-precision arithmetic on simulation accuracy is examined by conducting Jablonowski and Williamson’s baroclinic wave tests using the dynamical core of a global fully compressible nonhydrostatic model. The model employs a finite-volume method discretized on an icosahedral grid system and its mesh size is set to 220, 56, 14, and 3.5 km. When double-precision arithmetic is fully replaced by single-precision arithmetic, a spurious wavenumber-5 structure becomes dominant in both hemispheres, rather than the expected baroclinic wave growth only in the Northern Hemisphere. It was found that this spurious wave growth comes from errors in the calculation of gridcell geometrics. Therefore, an additional simulation was conducted using double precision for calculations that only need to be performed for model setup, including calculation of gridcell geometrics, and single precision everywhere else, meaning that all calculations performed each time step used single precision. In this case, the model successfully simulated the growth of the baroclinic wave with only small errors and a 46% reduction in runtime. These results suggest that the use of single-precision arithmetic will allow significant reduction of computational costs in next-generation weather and climate simulations using a fully compressible nonhydrostatic global model with the finite-volume method.

The reduction behavior of the surface oxide on Cu particles under a reducing gas atmosphere was investigated for a pressureless sinter joining. We conducted x-ray thermodiffraction analysis and simultaneous thermogravimetry, differential thermal analysis, and mass spectroscopy (TG–DTA–MS) under a reducing atmosphere to investigate the reduction and subsequent sintering behaviors of copper particles at different oxygen concentrations. The shear strength of the pressureless sinter joint decreased with increasing oxygen concentration. The thermodiffraction results revealed that the reduction onset of Cu2O started at the same temperature (220°C), whereas the reaction markedly persisted at higher oxygen concentrations. Cu sintering progressed significantly after the reduction due to generation of Cu nanoparticles. The TG–DTA–MS results indicated that H2O formation temperature associated with the reduction depends on the oxygen concentration, consistent with the thermodiffraction results. The surface oxides were found to play an important role in pressureless sinter joining via nanoparticle formation, while the presence of a large amount of oxide delayed the reduction and subsequent sintering.

Typhoon Faxai hit Japan in 2019 and severely damaged the Tokyo metropolitan area. To mitigate such damages, a good track forecast is necessary even before the typhoon formation. To investigate the predictability of the genesis and movement of a precursor vortex and its relationship with the synoptic‐scale flow, 100‐member ensemble simulations of Typhoon Faxai were performed using a 14‐km mesh global nonhydrostatic atmospheric model, which started from 16 different initial days (i.e., 1,600 members in total). The results show that the model could predict an enhanced risk of a Faxai‐like vortex heading toward Japan 2 weeks before landfall, which was up to 70%. The reason for the enhancement was a rapid increase in the members reproducing a precursor vortex from 15 to 12 days before landfall in Japan. In addition, the upper‐tropospheric vortex played an essential role in the track simulation of Faxai. Plain Language Summary Tropical cyclones severely damage coastal regions yearly. Typhoon Faxai hit Japan in 2019 and severely damaged buildings, power grids, and cell phone networks in the Tokyo metropolitan area. To mitigate such damages, better track forecast is necessary even from the timing before typhoon formation. A large ensemble member (1,600‐member in total) and high‐resolution (14‐km) simulation was performed to investigate the genesis and movement of the precursor vortex of Faxai in 2019 and its relationship with the synoptic‐scale environmental flow using a global nonhydrostatic atmospheric model on the Supercomputer Fugaku. The results show the model could predict an enhanced risk of a Faxai‐like vortex heading toward Japan 2 weeks before landfall. A reason for the enhancement was a rapid increase in the members reproducing a precursor vortex from 15 to 12 days before landfall in Japan. In addition, the upper‐tropospheric vortex played an essential role in the movement of the Faxai‐like vortex. Key Points A 1,600‐member ensemble simulation in total for Typhoon Faxai (2019) was performed using a 14‐km mesh nonhydrostatic atmospheric model The model successfully predicts the risk of Faxai's landfall in Japan 2 weeks in advance Reproducibilities of the precursor vortex and upper‐tropospheric vortex yield good prediction of the formation and track of Faxai

The Nonhydrostatic ICosahedral Atmospheric Model (NICAM), a global model with an icosahedral grid system, has been under development for nearly two decades. This paper describes NICAM16-S, the latest stable version of NICAM (NICAM.16), modified for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6, High Resolution Model Intercomparison Project (HighResMIP). Major updates of NICAM.12, a previous version used for climate simulations, included updates of the cloud microphysics scheme and land surface model, introduction of natural and anthropogenic aerosols and a subgrid-scale orographic gravity wave drag scheme, and improvement of the coupling between the cloud microphysics and the radiation schemes. External forcings were updated to follow the protocol of the HighResMIP. A series of short-term sensitivity experiments were performed to determine and understand the impacts of these various model updates on the simulated mean states. The NICAM16-S simulations demonstrated improvements in the ice water content, high cloud amount, surface air temperature over the Arctic region, location and strength of zonal mean subtropical jet, and shortwave radiation over Africa and South Asia. Some long-standing biases, such as the double intertropical convergence zone and smaller low cloud amount, still exist or are even worse in some cases, suggesting further necessity for understanding their mechanisms, upgrading schemes and parameter settings, and enhancing horizontal and vertical resolutions.

Global cloud/cloud system-resolving models are perceived to perform well in the prediction of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO), a huge eastward -propagating atmospheric pulse that dominates intraseasonal variation of the tropics and affects the entire globe. However, owing to model complexity, detailed analysis is limited by computational power. Here we carry out a simulation series using a recently developed supercomputer, which enables the statistical evaluation of the MJO prediction skill of a costly new-generation model in a manner similar to operational forecast models. We estimate the current MJO predictability of the model as 27 days by conducting simulations including all winter MJO cases identified during 2003–2012. The simulated precipitation patterns associated with different MJO phases compare well with observations. An MJO case captured in a recent intensive observation is also well reproduced. Our results reveal that the global cloud-resolving approach is effective in understanding the MJO and in providing month-long tropical forecasts. Prediction of the Madden–Julian Oscillation using complex cloud-resolving models has been limited by computational power. Here, Miyakawa et al. run a series of simulations using the newly developed 10 peta-flop ‘K computer’ and demonstrate a Madden–Julian Oscillation predictive window of 27 days.

Toward the achievement of reliable global kilometer‐scale (k‐scale) climate simulations, we improve the Nonhydrostatic ICosahedral Atmospheric Model (NICAM) by focusing on moist physical processes. A goal of the model improvement is to establish a configuration that can simulate realistic fields seamlessly from the daily‐scale variability to the climatological statistics. Referring to the two representative configurations of the present NICAM, each of which has been used for climate‐scale and sub‐seasonal‐scale experiments, we try to find the appropriate partitioning of fast/local and slow/global‐scale circulations. In a series of sensitivity experiments at 14‐km horizontal resolution, we test (a) the tuning of terminal velocities of rain, snow, and cloud ice, (b) the implementation of turbulent diffusion by the Leonard term, and (c) enhanced vertical resolution. These tests yield reasonable convection triggering and convection‐induced tropospheric moistening, and result in better performance than in previous NICAM climate simulations. In the mean state, double Intertropical Convergence Zone bias disappears, and the zonal contrast of equatorial precipitation, top‐of‐atmosphere radiation balance, vertical temperature profile, and position/strength of subtropical jet are reproduced dramatically better. Variability such as equatorial waves and the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) is spontaneously realized with appropriate spectral power balance, and the Asian summer monsoon, boreal‐summer MJO, and tropical cyclone (TC) activities are more realistically simulated especially around the western Pacific. Meanwhile, biases still exist in the representation of low‐cloud fraction, TC intensity, and precipitation diurnal cycle, suggesting that both higher spatial resolutions and further model development are warranted. Plain Language Summary In the near future, increasing computational power will make it possible to perform a global kilometer‐scale “cloud‐resolving” model (GCRM) simulation on the climate time scale, which is expected to reduce the uncertainty of cloud‐related processes in the climate system. In this sense, it is important to make GCRMs more reliable tools in the evaluation and prediction of the variabilities over a wide range of spatio‐temporal scales. With this perspective, we improve a Japanese GCRM, the Nonhydrostatic Atmospheric Icosahedral Model (NICAM), to achieve the realistic representation of both weather phenomena and climatological features in long‐term simulations. We revise the NICAM by the reconsideration of cloud microphysics properties, the implementation of diffusion processes around strong convection cores, and increased vertical layers. These revisions lead to the substantial improvements in the climatological mean precipitation distributions, radiative energy balance at the top of the atmosphere, westerly jets in the mid‐latitude, and temperature fields. We also find that weather phenomena such as the Asian summer monsoon and tropical cyclone (TC) genesis are simulated more realistically. We expect that, in addition to the above model improvements, kilometer‐scale horizontal resolutions can resolve a part of remaining issues of the representation of TC intensity and precipitation diurnal cycle. Key Points We improve a global nonhydrostatic atmospheric model focusing on resolution‐independent errors that can exist even in k‐scale climate runs Key improvements are retuning of cloud microphysics properties, consideration of grid‐scale turbulent mixing, and increased vertical layers Biases in mean rainfall, radiation balance, and circulation as well as weather (monsoon, Madden–Julian oscillation, equatorial wave, tropical cyclone) are reduced

This article reviews the development of a global non-hydrostatic model, focusing on the pioneering research of the Non-hydrostatic Icosahedral Atmospheric Model (NICAM). Very high resolution global atmospheric circulation simulations with horizontal mesh spacing of approximately O (km) were conducted using recently developed supercomputers. These types of simulations were conducted with a specifically designed atmospheric global model based on a quasi-uniform grid mesh structure and a non-hydrostatic equation system. This review describes the development of each dynamical and physical component of NICAM, the assimilation strategy and its related models, and provides a scientific overview of NICAM studies conducted to date.

This study investigated the impact of several cloud microphysical schemes on the trade wind cumulus in the large eddy simulation model. To highlight the differences due to the cloud microphysical component, we developed a fully compressible large eddy simulation model, which excluded the implicit scheme and approximations as much as possible. The three microphysical schemes, the one-moment bulk, two-moment bulk, and spectral bin schemes were used for sensitivity experiments in which the other components were fixed. Our new large eddy simulation model using a spectral bin scheme successfully reproduced trade wind cumuli, and reliable model performance was confirmed. Results of the sensitivity experiments indicated that precipitation simulated by the one-moment bulk scheme started earlier, and its total amount was larger than that of the other models. By contrast, precipitation simulated by the two-moment scheme started late, and its total amount was small. These results support those of a previous study. The analyses revealed that the expression of two processes, (1) the generation of cloud particles and (2) the conversion from small droplets to raindrops, were crucial to the results. The fast conversion from cloud to rain and the large amount of newly generated cloud particles at the cloud base led to evaporative cooling and subsequent stabilization in the sub-cloud layer. The latent heat released at higher layers by the condensation of cloud particles resulted in the development of the boundary layer top height.

A bonding method utilizing redox reactions of metallic oxide microparticles achieves metal-to-metal bonding in air, which can be alternative to lead-rich high-melting point solder. However, it is known that the degree of the reduction of metallic oxide microparticles have an influence on the joint strength using this bonding method. In this paper, the reduction behavior of CuO paste and its effect on Cu-to-Cu joints were investigated through simultaneous microstructure-related x-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry measurements. The CuO microparticles in the paste were gradually reduced to submicron Cu2O particles at 210–250°C. Subsequently, Cu nanoparticles were generated instantaneously at 300–315°C. There was a marked difference in the strengths of the joints formed at 300°C and 350°C. Thus, the Cu nanoparticles play a critical role in sintering-based bonding using CuO paste. Furthermore, once the Cu nanoparticles have formed, the joint strength increases with higher bonding temperature (from 350°C to 500°C) and pressure (5–15 MPa), which can exceed the strength of Pb-5Sn solder at higher temperature and pressure.

Molecular hydrogen, H2, is one of the most abundant trace gases in the atmosphere. The main known chemical source of H2 in the atmosphere is the photolysis of formaldehyde and glyoxal. Recent laboratory measurements and ground-state photochemistry calculations have shown other aldehydes photodissociate to yield H2 as well. This aldehyde photochemistry has not been previously accounted for in atmospheric H2 models. Here, we used two atmospheric models to test the implications of the previously unexplored aldehyde photochemistry on the H2 tropospheric budget. We used the AtChem box model implementing the nearly chemically explicit Master Chemical Mechanism at three sites selected to represent variable atmospheric environments: London, Cabo Verde and Borneo. We conducted five box model simulations per site using varying quantum yields for the photolysis of 16 aldehydes and compared the results against a baseline. The box model simulations showed that the photolysis of acetaldehyde, propanal, methylglyoxal, glycolaldehyde and methacrolein yields the highest chemical production of H2. We also used the GEOS-Chem 3-D atmospheric chemical transport model to test the impacts of the new photolytic H2 source on the global scale. A new H2 simulation capability was developed in GEOS-Chem and evaluated for 2015 and 2016. We then performed a sensitivity simulation in which the photolysis reactions of six aldehyde species were modified to include a 1 % yield of H2. We found an increase in the chemical production of H2 over tropical regions where high abundance of isoprene results in the secondary generation of methylglyoxal, glycolaldehyde and methacrolein, ultimately yielding H2. We calculated a final increase of 0.4 Tg yr−1 in the global chemical production budget, compared to a baseline production of ∼41 Tg yr−1. Ultimately, both models showed that H2 production from the newly discovered photolysis of aldehydes leads to only minor changes in the atmospheric mixing ratios of H2, at least for the aldehydes tested here when assuming a 1 % quantum yield across all wavelengths. Our results imply that the previously missing photochemical source is a less significant source of model uncertainty than other components of the H2 budget, including emissions and soil uptake.