Global ocean biogeochemistry model HAMOCC: Model architecture and performance as component of the MPI‐Earth system model in different CMIP5 experimental realizations

Abstract

Ocean biogeochemistry is a novel standard component of fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) experiments which project future climate change caused by anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. Of particular interest here is the evolution of the oceanic sink of carbon and the oceanic contribution to the climate‐carbon cycle feedback loop. The Hamburg ocean carbon cycle model (HAMOCC), a component of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology Earth system model (MPI‐ESM), is employed to address these challenges. In this paper we describe the version of HAMOCC used in the CMIP5 experiments (HAMOCC 5.2) and its implementation in the MPI‐ESM to provide a documentation and basis for future CMIP5‐related studies. Modeled present day distributions of biogeochemical variables calculated in two different horizontal resolutions compare fairly well with observations. Statistical metrics indicate that the model performs better at the ocean surface and worse in the ocean interior. There is a tendency for improvements in the higher resolution model configuration in representing deeper ocean variables; however, there is little to no improvement at the ocean surface. An experiment with interactive carbon cycle driven by emissions of CO 2 produces a 25% higher variability in the oceanic carbon uptake over the historical period than the same model forced by prescribed atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. Furthermore, a climate warming of 3.5 K projected at atmospheric CO 2 concentration of four times the preindustrial value, reduced the atmosphere‐ocean CO 2 flux by 1 GtC yr−1. Overall, the model shows consistent results in different configurations, being suitable for the type of simulations required within the CMIP5 experimental design.