The Formulation and Atmospheric Simulation of the Community Atmosphere Model Version 3 (CAM3)

Abstract A new version of the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM) has been developed and released to the climate community. CAM Version 3 (CAM3) is an atmospheric general circulation model that includes the Community Land Model (CLM3), an optional slab ocean model, and a thermodynamic sea ice model. The dynamics and physics in CAM3 have been changed substantially compared to implementations in previous versions. CAM3 includes options for Eulerian spectral, semi-Lagrangian, and finite-volume formulations of the dynamical equations. It supports coupled simulations using either finite-volume or Eulerian dynamics through an explicit set of adjustable parameters governing the model time step, cloud parameterizations,…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy
• NA
  National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• CS
  Colorado State University
• MO
  Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
• NO
  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• JA
  Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology