Evaluation of the Eastern Equatorial Pacific SST Seasonal Cycle in CMIP5 Models

This study evaluates the simulation of the Eastern Equatorial Pacific (EEP) SST seasonal cycle in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). We classify the models based on their ability to reproduce the annual cycle. While some models capture the phase and amplitude correctly, a significant number still exhibit a spurious semi-annual cycle or an inverted annual cycle. We identify that the solar radiation bias and the poor representation of the cloud-SST feedback are major contributors to these errors. Comparison with CMIP3 shows moderate progress, but the EEP SST bias remains a common issue.

Ocean Science