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Evaluating Mean State Cloud Properties in the Simple Cloud‐Resolving E3SM Atmosphere Model (SCREAM)
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Evaluating Mean State Cloud Properties in the Simple Cloud‐Resolving E3SM Atmosphere Model (SCREAM)
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Journal Article
Evaluating Mean State Cloud Properties in the Simple Cloud‐Resolving E3SM Atmosphere Model (SCREAM)
2025
Overview
Accurately simulating clouds remains a key challenge in global climate models, primarily because cloud formation involves sub‐grid processes that are parameterized and crudely represented in models. This study examines the performance of DOE's Simple Cloud‐Resolving Energy Exascale Earth System (E3SM) Atmosphere Model (SCREAM) in simulating cloud properties and their spatio‐temporal distribution by comparing against satellite observations. Two horizontal resolutions of SCREAM (3 and 12 km) are examined, and both depict a realistic spatial structure of mean‐state cloud cover but underestimate its global mean magnitude. SCREAM 3 km reasonably reproduces the distribution of mean‐state cloud properties across various cloud optical thickness and cloud‐top pressure regimes, with performance comparable to CMIP5 and CMIP6 ensemble and marginally outperforming SCREAM 12 km. Still, SCREAM 3 km tends to underpredict low clouds and optically thin clouds, highlighting the need for continued improvement in representing unresolved processes. This study provides a basis for confidence in the representation of clouds in SCREAM, as simulating mean‐state clouds is a necessary prerequisite for trusting its cloud responses to changes in aerosols and greenhouse gases. Plain Language Summary It is important for global climate models to closely reproduce the amount and physical properties of clouds in the real‐world climate. This has been challenging because they have coarse resolution and need to rely on parameterizations to approximate the formation of clouds at sub‐grid scales. This study evaluates how well the DOE's high‐resolution global storm‐resolving model (the Simple Cloud‐Resolving E3SM Atmosphere Model (SCREAM)) reproduces clouds in satellite observations. SCREAM produces a spatial structure of cloud fraction that closely resembles the real world but underestimates the global mean cloudiness. Overall, we find that SCREAM performs as well as most coarse resolution global climate models in simulating the distributions of cloud vertical structure and cloud reflectivity. Yet, SCREAM underestimates the amount of low‐level clouds and thin clouds, suggesting room for improvement in representing unresolved cloud processes. This study provides a basis for confidence in the representation of clouds in SCREAM, which is a key prerequisite for simulating the response of clouds in future climate. Key Points SCREAM 3 km produces a realistic spatial and vertical distribution of cloud fraction fields, but underestimates the global average values SCREAM 3 km performs comparably to conventional climate models and marginally outperforms 12 km in representing cloud properties SCREAM 3 km underestimates low and optically thin clouds, suggesting potential areas for improvement in sub‐grid process representation
