Reference aquaplanet climate in the Community Atmosphere Model, Version 5

The assumptions and simplifications of the configuration are described. A 16 year long, perpetual equinox integration with prescribed SST using the model's standard 1° grid spacing is presented as a reference simulation.

Statistical analysis is presented that shows similar aquaplanet configurations can be run for about 2 years to obtain robust climatological structures, including global and zonal means, eddy statistics, and precipitation distributions. Such a simulation can be compared to the reference simulation to discern differences in the climate, including an assessment of confidence in the differences. To aid such comparisons, the reference simulation has been made available via earthsystemgrid.org.