PMIP Newsletter 4

                *********************************************
                PALEOCLIMATE MODELING INTERCOMPARISON PROJECT
                *********************************************

                                Newsletter N. 4
                                ---------------
                                  11 July  1994

Dear participant,
       
In this newsletter, we would like to inform you about organisational
aspects of PMIP :

        -A- Structure
        -B- Storage policy
        -C- Subprojects
        -D- Workhops
        -E- Questionnaire



*************
-A- Structure
*************

Since its birth in May 1991 in Saclay, PMIP has essentially progressed
through a loose, interactive, consensus-based decision making process.
Progress has clearly been possible because of the enthusiastic
participation of many of the scientists who participated in the initial
planning of PMIP. We hope to continue this informal interactive way of
working together, but it seems necessary that we also agree on a more
official structure for the project as more people get involved and as
we begin dealing formally with other projects and international
programs.

PMIP is now endorsed by both PAGES/IGBP (PAst Global ChangES/International 
Geosphere Biosphere Program) and WGNE/WCRP (Working Group on Numerical
Experimentation/World Climate Research Program), highlighting the two
complementary aspects of PMIP which deals both with the investigation
of the mechanisms of paleoclimate changes and the evaluation of climate
models through paleoclimate studies.

Coordination is the responsibility of:

   Sylvie Joussaume        (LMCE, Saclay, France) and 
   Karl Taylor             (PCMDI, Livermore, USA)


Guidance will be provided by an Advisory Committee, which includes
scientists involved in climate modeling and in paleodata analyses (ocean,
lake levels and pollen/biomes).

   Larry Gates             (PCMDI, Livermore, USA)
   John Kutzbach           (CCR, Madison, USA)
   Suki Manabe             (GFDL, Princeton, USA)
   John Mitchell           (UKMO, Bracknell, UK)
   David Rind              (GISS, New York,USA)         to be confirmed

   Colin Prentice          (Lund University, Sweden)
   Alayne Street-Perrott    (University of Oxford, UK)
   Warren Prell            (Brown University, Providence, USA)


To strengthen the data-model intercomparison component of PMIP and to
provide an interface for facilitating interaction between the PMIP
modelers and the data community, we will adopt a recommendation from
the NATO ARW in Aussois (October 1993) on "Strategies for the use
of paleoclimate data sets in climate model intercomparison and
evaluation" to form a Data-Model Intercomparison Subcommittee.

The membership of this committee will be nominated by the organisers of
this NATO ARW:

   Joel Guiot              (LBHP, Marseille, France)
   Sandy Harrison          (Lund University, Sweden)
   Pat Bartlein            (University of Oregon, USA)




******************
-B- Storage Policy
******************

Concerning our strategy for storing and accessing PMIP-related data :

*1*     Boundary conditions and global datasets
        ---------------------------------------

We rely on NGDC (National Geophysical Data Center) to store
observationally-derived paleoclimate data, including insolation, SSTs,
ice sheet reconstructions, topography, surface temperature, and biome
distribution, which can be used either as boundary conditions for GCMs
or to compare with the model-simulated fields.  Other information (such
as the PMIP Newsletters) will also be available from NGDC.

All the information stored there will be freely available through
anonymous ftp:
                ftp ngdc1.ngdc.noaa.gov
                name: anonymous
                password: your email address


*2*     Model output
        ------------

We plan to archive model outputs initially at PCMDI (Program for Climate
Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison), which is where the data from our
sister project (AMIP) is also stored.  

Model output will be available through ftp (to be described later). 
Please contact Karl Taylor if you are ready to provide output right now
(NEW! Please check the PMIP 'Contacts' web page).


*3*     Access rights and publication policy for model outputs
        ------------------------------------------------------

Participants are expected to contribute the agreed upon monthly average
fields (standard output) as soon as possible after the completion of
their simulations.

Any group contributing PMIP data, will have free access to the standard
output of other groups, but publication of model results would require
permission from the individual groups.

After some period of time during which results would be published by
the individual modeling groups and through subproject collaborations
(discussed below), we may choose with permission from the individual
groups to allow the model output to be made freely available to
anyone.



**************
-C Subprojects
**************

Although individual modeling groups are carrying out the PMIP
simulations for specific purposes, there are some common interests
which could lend themselves to the formation of subprojects that would
focus on particular aspects of the simulations.


*1*     Model-model comparisons
        -----------------------
   
The general goal of PMIP is to facilitate intercomparison of model
results in these common areas of interest.  Consequently, we intend to
encourage the formation of PMIP subprojects, which would for example
analyze the African and Asian Monsoons or the planetary wave structure in 
response to the 21 kyr BP boundary conditions.  We expect that subprojects
like these will come about naturally at the initiative of individual 
modeling groups, and will be more explicitly defined at the first PMIP 
workshop planned for mid-1995.
      

*2*     Model-data comparisons
        ----------------------

We expect that scientists more directly involved in creating
observationally-based paleoclimate data sets will be invited to
participate in many of the subprojects that are initiated by modelers.

But we also will encourage the paleoclimatologists who do not run GCMs
to  propose and initiate subprojects.  The mechanism for doing this
will be either to contact a modeling group directly and develop ideas
for a subproject that can be proposed at the first PMIP workshop, or to
propose a project directly to the Data-Model Intercomparison
Subcommittee.  More information will be given in a future newsletter.


*3*     Permission-publication policy
        -----------------------------

In general, subprojects would be required to obtain permission from the
individual modeling groups before using their model output. Normally,if
a modeling group granted permission for the use of its output, but did
nothing else in the way of analysis or preparation of special datasets,
then co-authorship of the subsequent subproject publication would not
necessarily be expected.  Co-authorship would normally imply that an
individual had at least helped in the analysis of the model output or
gone significantly beyond the standard output in providing data to the
subproject.

        

*************
-D- Workshops
*************

To really initiate collaborative work between PMIP participants, we
plan the following workshops:

- mid-1995 :   a workshop focusing on model-model comparisons
to take a first look at model results.  Participants will be required
to come with some specific charts of standard model outputs. Initial
subprojects concerning model intercomparisons will be defined during
this workshop. 

- late 1995-early 1996 : a second workshop focusing on model-data 
comparisons with the participation of the data community interested in PMIP.

- late 1996 or 1997 : final PMIP workshop


*****************
-E- Questionnaire
*****************


We have a preliminary list of modelers interested in participating in
PMIP which we would like to update. This will help us to prepare the
first PMIP workshop. Can you please answer the following questions :


---------------- Participation to  PMIP Questionnaire ---------------


What is your group called?


Do you indeed plan to run your model for PMIP ? 


Which member(s) of your group will actively participate?:

 
Which PMIP experiments will you perform :
                 6 ka BP
                21 ka BP with calculated SSTs
                21 ka BP with prescribed SSTs


When do you expect to complete your simulations ?


Which model will you use and at what resolution? 


Any other comments, especially on the content of the present newsletter?




Date

Contact name and address :





To be sent to paleo (NEW! Please check the PMIP 'Contacts' web page)

------------------------- END -----------------------------------------



                                     Yours sincerely,


                                Sylvie Joussaume (LMCE)
                                Karl Taylor      (PCMDI)
                                and the Advisory Committee



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Contact Address:
################
        Laboratoire de Modelisation du Climat et de l´Environnement
        D.S.M. / Orme des Merisiers / Bat. 709
        C.E. Saclay
        9119 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex
        FRANCE

        Tel.:   (33) 1 69.08.77.11
        Fax.:   (33) 1 69.08.77.16
        email:  paleo (NEW! Please check the PMIP 'Contacts' web page)
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