Climate modeling with spectral elements

For uniform resolution, the output of the model compares favorably with the published output from the CAM2 experiments. Further integrations with local mesh refinement included indicate that while greater detail in the prediction of mesh-refined regions--that is, regional climate--is observed, the remaining coarse-grid results are similar to results obtained from a uniform-grid integration of the model with identical conditions.

It should be noted that in addition to spectral elements, other efficient schemes have lately been considered, in particular the finite-volume scheme. This scheme has not yet been incorporated into CAM_SEM. The two schemes--finite volume and spectral element--are quasi-independent and generally compatible, dealing with different aspects of the integration process.

Their impact can be assessed separately and the omission of the finite-volume process herein will not detract from the evaluation of the results using the spectral-element method alone.