Tropical Atlantic climate simulated in the GFDL CM2.5 high-resolution coupled climate model

Using two fully coupled ocean-atmosphere models of CM2.1 (the Climate Model version 2.1 developed at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory) and CM2.5 (a new high-resolution climate model based on CM2.1), the characteristics and sources of SST and precipitation biases associated with the Atlantic ITCZ have been investigated. CM2.5 has an improved simulation of the annual mean and the annual cycle of the rainfall over the Sahel and the northern South America, while CM2.1 shows excessive Sahel rainfall and lack of northern South America rainfall in boreal summer. This marked improvement in CM2.5 is due to not only high-resolved orography, but also a significant reduction of biases in the seasonal meridional migration of the ITCZ. In particular, the seasonal northward migration of the ITCZ in boreal summer is coupled to the seasonal variation of the SST and a subsurface doming of the thermocline in the northeastern tropical Atlantic, known as the Guinea Dome. Improvements in the ITCZ allow for better representation of the coupled processes that are important for an abrupt seasonally phase-locked decay of the interannual SST anomaly in the northern tropical Atlantic. Nevertheless, the differences between CM2.5 and CM2.1 were not sufficient to reduce the warm SST biases in the eastern equatorial region and Angola-Benguela Area. The weak bias of southerly winds along the southwestern African coast associated with the excessive southward migration bias of the ITCZ may be a key to improve the warm SST biases there. Also, response of climate conditions in the Atlantic Hurricane Main Development Region (MDR) to doubling of atmospheric CO2 with CM2.5 has been explored. In the annual mean, the SST in the MDR warms by about 2°C in the CO2 doubling run relative to the Control run, the trade winds become weaker in the northern tropical Atlantic, and the rainfall increases over the ITCZ and its northern region. The amplitude of the annual cycle of the SST over the MDR is not significantly changed by CO2 doubling. However, we find that the interannual variations show significant responses to CO2 doubling: the seasonal maximum peak of the interannual variations of the SST over the MDR moves from boreal spring to early boreal summer, at which time it is about 25% stronger than in the Control run. The enhancement of the interannual variations of the SST in the MDR is due to changes in effectiveness of the Wind-Evaporation-SST (WES) positive feedback: WES remains a positive feedback until boreal early summer in the CO2 doubling run. The enhancement of the interannual variability of the SST over the MDR in boreal early summer due to CO2 doubling could lead to serious damages associated with the Atlantic Hurricane count and drought (or flood) in the Sahel and South America in a future climate.