Erfani et al. (2026) Isolating the contribution of local and non-local shortwave flux biases towards climatological sea surface temperature and precipitation biases within a coupled climate model

Identification

• Journal: Journal of Climate
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-08
• Authors: Ehsan Erfani, Natalie Burls
• DOI: 10.1175/jcli-d-26-0069.1

Research Groups

• Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences, George Mason University
• Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Desert Research Institute

Short Summary

This study investigates the impact of replacing net shortwave flux biases in a coupled climate model on climatological sea surface temperature (SST) and precipitation biases. The results show that this approach reduces global mean SST bias but does not eliminate biases in all regions.

Objective

• Investigate the contribution of local and non-local shortwave flux biases towards climatological sea surface temperature and precipitation biases within a coupled climate model

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global, with focus on regional analysis
• Temporal Scale: Climatological (long-term averages)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: CESM (Community Earth System Model)
• Data sources: Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy Systems (CERES)-Energy Balanced And Filled (EBAF) dataset

Main Results

• Replacing net shortwave flux biases reduces global mean SST bias, but biases persist in some regions, such as the Southern Ocean.
• Regional replacement experiments highlight the contribution of both local and nonlocal biases in shortwave forcing towards SST biases.

Contributions

• This study provides new insights into the role of shortwave flux biases in contributing to climatological sea surface temperature and precipitation biases within coupled climate models.
• The results have implications for improving model performance and reducing biases in future climate projections.

Funding

• This research was supported by [project/program name] (reference code).

Citation

@article{Erfani2026Isolating,
  author = {Erfani, Ehsan and Burls, Natalie},
  title = {Isolating the contribution of local and non-local shortwave flux biases towards climatological sea surface temperature and precipitation biases within a coupled climate model},
  journal = {Journal of Climate},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1175/jcli-d-26-0069.1},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1175/jcli-d-26-0069.1}
}