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History of US CLIVAR Climate Process Teams

CPTs are small groups of observationalists, theoreticians, small-scale modelers, and scientists at modeling centers working closely together to improve parameterizations of a particular process in one or more IPCC-class models. These multi-institutional projects have been sponsored by NSF and NOAA through two proposal calls in 2003 and 2009. Following the completion of three initial pilot CPT projects, the US CLIVAR Process Study and Model Improvement (PSMI) Panel conducted a review to assess the efficacy of the approach, enumerate lessons learned, and inform agency consideration for a second round. In 2019, NOAA's Climate Variability and Predictability Program and Modeling, Analysis, Predictions and Projections Program started five new CPTs with their announcements (Translating Land Process Understanding to Improve Climate Models and Transferring Understanding of Ocean Atmospheric Processes into Climate Model Improvements)

CPT 2019 Awards

CPT 2010 Awards

CPT 2003 Awards

Other Documents

The objectives of a CPT:

Speed the improvement of coupled models, data assimilation systems, and model components by:

  • Parameterizing the important processes not included explicitly in climate models;
  • Transferring theoretical and process-model understanding into improved treatment of processes in climate models;
  • Sharpening our understanding of how particular physical processes impact the climate system;
  • Identifying sustained observational requirements required by climate models for these parameterizations; and
  • Identifying additional process studies necessary to reduce uncertainties associated with important climate model processes/parameterizations.