Core Modeling Concepts
The fundamental principles that make climate models work
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Section 2 of 5How Models Represent Climate
1. Spatial Resolution: The Climate Grid
Climate models divide Earth into a 3D grid of cells. Each cell represents averages over that area - temperature, wind, humidity, etc. Higher resolution (smaller cells) captures more detail but requires exponentially more computing power.
Interactive: Adjust Model Resolution
2. Temporal Resolution: Time Steps
Models advance in small time increments (typically 15-30 minutes for atmosphere, hours for ocean). At each step, they calculate how conditions change based on physics laws. Running 100 years of simulation can take months of supercomputer time.
Interactive: Watch Time Steps
Models calculate atmospheric conditions hour by hour, updating temperature, wind, humidity, and other variables at each step based on physics equations.
3. Physics-Based Equations
Fundamental Laws
- • Conservation of energy
- • Conservation of momentum
- • Conservation of mass
- • Thermodynamic principles
Climate Processes
- • Radiation transfer
- • Fluid dynamics
- • Phase changes (ice/water)
- • Chemical reactions
⚙️Parameterization: Representing Small-Scale Processes
Some processes (clouds, turbulence) happen at scales smaller than grid cells. Models use "parameterization" - simplified representations based on larger-scale conditions. This is a major source of uncertainty.