Observation-based Evaluation of Results from the Southern Ocean Model Intercomparison Project

Global coupled climate models and earth system models vary widely in their simulations of the Southern Ocean and its role in, and response to, the ongoing anthropogenic forcing. There are, however, several shortcomings common to all, notably equator-ward shifted surface winds and the absence of melting from ice sheets. The Southern Ocean Model Intercomparison Project (SOMIP) is a series of experiments designed to assess the impacts of these biases on the climate and the climatic response to warming. We use observationally-based earth system model metrics, and observations of the carbon system from biogeochemically-sensored floats deployed by the Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling (SOCCOM) mission to assess the SOMIP wind and meltwater experiments.