ACP Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ACP 1680-7324 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/acp-6-5475-2006 Influence of different convection parameterisations in a GCM Tost H. 1 Jöckel P. 1 Lelieveld J. 1 Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max-Planck Institute of Chemistry, P.O. Box 3060, 55020 Mainz, Germany 06 12 2006 6 12 5475 5493 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/6/5475/2006/acp-6-5475-2006.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/6/5475/2006/acp-6-5475-2006.pdf

In global models of the atmosphere convection is parameterised, since the typical scale of this process is smaller than the model resolution. Here we address some of the uncertainties arising from the selection of different algorithms to simulate this process. Four different parameterisations for atmospheric convection, all used in state-of-the-art models, are implemented in the model system ECHAM5/MESSy for a consistent inter-comparison and evaluation against observations. Relatively large differences are found in the simulated precipitation patterns, whereas simulated water vapour columns distributions are quite similar and close to observations. The effects on the hydrological cycle and on the simulated meteorological conditions are discussed.

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