Can anyone tell me what the various model names mean? E.g. HADCM3 I believe the CM means coupled model, but again, what does that mean?

Can anyone tell me what the various model names mean? E.g. HADCM3 I believe the CM means coupled model, but again, what does that mean?

This link explains things

http://climateprediction.net/board/viewtopic.php?p=66743#66743

The climate models use the code written and developed by the UK\'s Met Office, that are run on their supercomputers. They are currently situated at the Hadley Centre. Met Office Hadley Centre

The first part of the models\' names reflect this: had = Hadley.
The cm stands for Coupled Ocean Model. This is described in detail at the front of this web site, under Climate Science in the Experiment Strategy section. Here.

There\'s more info on the different model types under here

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Backups: Here

Had is short for Hadley. The Hadley Centre is at the UK Met Office and is named after the amateur meteorologist George Hadley. The Met Office wrote the code for all the CPDN models. CPDN adapts them for various experiments.

3 refers to a generation or version of models. So 3 is more advanced than 2. I don\'t think anybody now uses version 2.

CM means coupled model as you thought. The ocean data is coupled to atmospheric data; they interact, so more data is generated and these models progress more slowly.

In HadSM the SM means slab model where the ocean acts as a single layer, not multi-layer. HadSM MH is the same model type with an extra phase that attempts to recreate conditions during the Mid-Holocene period.

HadAM is an atmospheric model.

On 6 Aug 2009 in the News thread I listed what the other parts of model names refer to, though there are sometimes variations. If you understand that, as soon as you get a new model you know how many years it will process and how many other models have already been issued from the same workunit (which number your iteration/copy is).

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