PhD student Adam Herrington and Prof. Reed just published a paper in the upcoming July issue of Journal of Climate. The study re-visits the decades old problem of understanding why AGCMs are so sensitive to horizontal resolution. Simulations with the Community Atmosphere Model were investigated at four different horizontal resolutions. Large magnitude variations in moisture and cloud cover with resolution were traced back to changes to the large-scale circulation. An explanation for the resolution sensitivity of the large-scale circulation was then formulated based on the inherent scale sensitivity of the equations of motion at hydrostatic scales, and illustrated using linear Boussinesq theory. Check it out!
