RCEMIP Scientific Objectives

RCEMIP was designed to address the following three themes:

  1. What is the response of clouds to warming and the climate sensitivity of RCE?
  2. What is the dependence of convective aggregation and tropical circulation regimes on temperature in RCE?
  3. What is the robustness of the RCE state, including the above results, across the spectrum of models?

These themes are related to two of the questions raised by Bony et al., 2015 as central to a better understanding of global and regional climate changes: What role does convection play in cloud feedbacks? and What role does convective aggregation play in climate?

We recognize that the initial (Phase I) RCEMIP simulations will not necessarily be a definitive representation of the RCE state. Our vision for the evolution of RCEMIP is that the initial simulations serve as a starting point. RCEMIP presents an exceptional opportunity for the participants to explore other issues. Some topics that additional simulations could address are: (1) Robustness of RCE results to experimental design; (2) Sensitivity to the model physics and dynamics; (3) Mechanisms of convective aggregation; (4) Impact of ocean-atmosphere interactions; (5) Impact of rotation.

RCEMIP Phase II is designed to build on the success of Phase I while providing a constraint on convection and circulation (and a hopefully narrower intermodel spread), and thus the motivating science questions are similar to Phase I, geared towards further investigation of cloud-circulation coupling, convective aggregation and climate. Further information on the motivation for Phase II can be found in the Phase II protocol document - coming soon!

AGU Special Collection:
Using radiative-convective equilibrium to understand convective organization, clouds, and tropical climate

Publications using RCEMIP simulations (Fill out this form to have your paper listed!)

Wing, A.A. and M.S. Singh (2024): Control of Stability and Relative Humidity in the Radiative-Convective Equilibrium Model Intercomparison Project, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 16, e2023MS003914, doi:10.1029/2023MS003914.

Stauffer, C.L. and A.A. Wing (2023): Explicitly Resolved Cloud Feedbacks in the Radiative-Convective Equilibrium Model Intercomparison Project, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 15, e2023MS003738, doi:10.1029/2023MS003738.

Mackie, A. and M.P. Byrne (2022): Effects of circulation on tropical cloud feedbacks in high-resolution simulations, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 15, e2022MS003516, doi:10.1029/2022MS003516.

Silvers, L.G., K.A. Reed, and A.A. Wing (2023): The response of the large-scale tropical circulation to warming, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 15, e2021MS002966, doi:10.1029/2021MS002966.

Pope, K., C.E. Holloway, T.R. Jones, T. Stein (2022): Radiation, Clouds, and Self-Aggregation in RCEMIP Simulations, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., doi:10.1029/2022MS003317.

Li, R.L., J.H.P. Studholme, A.V. Fedorov, and T. Storelvmo (2022): Precipitation efficiency constraint on climate change, Nat. Clim. Chang. 12, 642–648, doi:10.1038/s41558-022-01400-x.

Sokol, A. B. and D.L. Hartmann (2022): Congestus mode invigoration by convective aggregation in simulations of radiative-convective equilibrium, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 14, e2022MS003045, doi:10.1029/2022MS003045.

Coppin, D. and R. Roehrig (2022): Convection self-aggregation in CNRM-CM6-1: Equilibrium and transition sensitivity to surface temperature, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 14, e2022MS003064, doi:10.1029/2022MS003064.

Stauffer, C.L. and A.A. Wing (2022): Properties, Changes, and Controls of Deep-Convecting Clouds in Radiative-Convective Equilibrium, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 14, e2021MS002917, doi:10.1029/2021MS002917.

Pope, K.N., C.E. Holloway, T.R. Jones, and T.H.M. Stein (2021): Cloud-radiation interactions and their contributions to convective self-aggregation. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., doi:10.1029/2021MS002535.

Bourdin, S., Kluft, L., & Stevens, B. (2021): Dependence of climate sensitivity on the given distribution of relative humidity. Geophys. Res. Lett. doi:10.1029/2021GL092462

Reed, K.A., L.G. Silvers, A.A. Wing, I.-K. Hu, and B. Medeiros (2021): Using radiative convective equilibrium to explore clouds and climate in the Community Atmosphere Model, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 13, e2021MS002539, doi:10.1029/2021MS002539.

Becker, T. and A.A. Wing (2020): Understanding the extreme spread in climate sensitivity within the Radiative-Convective Equilibrium Model Intercomparison Project, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 12, e2020MS002165, doi:10.1029/2020MS002165.

Wing, A.A., C.L. Stauffer, T. Becker, K.A. Reed, M.-S. Ahn, N.P. Arnold, S. Bony, M. Branson, G.H. Bryan, J.-P. Chaboureau, S.R. de Roode, K. Gayatri, C. Hohenegger, I.-K. Hu, F. Jansson, T.R. Jones, M. Khairoutdionv, D. Kim, Z.K. Martin, S. Matsugishi, B. Medeiros, H. Miura, Y. Moon, S.K. Müller, T. Ohno, M. Popp, T. Prabhakaran, D. Randall, R. Rios-Berrios, N. Rochetin, R. Roehrig, D.M. Romps, J.H. Ruppert, Jr., M. Satoh, L.G. Silvers, M.S. Singh, B. Stevens, L. Tomassini, C.C. van Heerwaarden, S. Wang, and M. Zhao (2020): Clouds and convective self-aggregation in a multi-model ensemble of radiative-convective equilibrium simulations, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 12, e2020MS002138, doi:10.1029/2020MS002138.

Jenney, A.M., D.A. Randall, and M.D. Branson (2020): Understanding the response of tropical ascent to warming using an energy balance framework, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 12, doi:10.1029/2020MS002056.

Mol, W.B., C.C. van Heerwaarden, and L. Schlemmer (2019): Surface moisture exchange under vanishing wind in simulations of idealized tropical convection. Geophys. Res. Lett., 46, 13602– 13609, doi:10.1029/2019GL085047.

Wing, A. A., K.A. Reed, M. Satoh, B. Stevens, S. Bony, and T. Ohno (2018): Radiative-Convective Equilibrium Model Intercomparison Project, Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 793-813, doi:10.5194/gmd-11-793-2018.

In the News

New Insights into Uncertainties About Earth’s Rising Temperature. 30 October 2020. Eos, 101, doi:10.1029/2020EO151039.
FSU researcher leads international project on how tropical clouds change with climate. 4 November 2020. FSU News.

Presentations about RCEMIP

Recorded Presentation at the Virtual 2020 AGU Fall Meeting

RCEMIP Update at 2022 CFMIP Meeting

RCEMIP Update at 2020 Virtual CFMIP Meeting

An Incomplete List of Presentations using RCEMIP simulations (Fill out this form to have your presentation listed!)

2022 CFMIP Meeting on Clouds, Preciptiation, Circulation, and Climate Sensitivity, Seattle, WA, 319-22 July 2022.

Other 2022 Meetings

34th AMS Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology, Virtual, 10-14 May 2021.

2021 EGU General Assembly, Virtual, 19-30 April 2021.

Other 2021 Meetings

2020 Meetings

2019 CFMIP Meeting on Clouds, Preciptiation, Circulation, and Climate Sensitivity, Mykonos, Greece, 30 Sept - 4 Oct 2019.

UCP2019: Understanding Clouds and Precipitation, Berlin, Germany, 25 February - 1 March 2019.

Other 2019 Meetings

2018 AGU Fall Meeting, Washington, DC, 10-14 December 2018.