NOAA GFDL Climate Research Highlights
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Will the Wet Get Wetter and the Dry Drier?
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2-D Graphics |
Animations |
Contacts
Up to date contact information (email, phone numbers) can be found for these people by entering their names into the NOAA Locator. The materials presented here help illustrate some of the key research results that GFDL scientists have reported on recently. These graphics are considered to be in the public domain, and thus can be downloaded freely. We do request that if these images are used in publications or media broadcasts credit be given to "NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory" or at least "NOAA GFDL". |
Return to the main NOAA GFDL Climate Research Highlights web page
2-D Graphics |
Select the camera icon to the left to access a Higher Resolution Version 1920 x 1080 png [840KB] figure captionThe change in annual average precipitation projected by the GFDL CM2.1 model for the 21st century. These results are from a model simulation forced according to the IPCC SRES A1B scenario [IPCC, 2000] in which atmospheric carbon dioxide levels increase from 370 to 717 ppm. The plotted precipitation differences were computed as the difference between the 2081 to 2100 twenty year average minus the 1951 to 2000 fifty year average. Blue areas are projected to see an increase in annual precipitation amounts. Brown areas are projected to receive less precipitation in the future. (Note the irregular color bar intervals.) |
Select the camera icon to the left to access a Medium Resolution Version 720 x 720 png [120KB] Select the camera icon to the left to access a High Resolution Version 2293 x 2201 png [360KB] figure caption[Above Left] Annual precipitation amounts averaged around the Earth along each latitude circle, as simulated by the GFDL CM2.1 model over the period 1951-2000. Notice the strong precipitation near the Equator, and the relative minima in precipitation near 20°S and 20°N - latitudes in the subtropical dry zones. |
For more details about the computer modeling studies that produced the information displayed in these figures, please refer to the Will the Wet Get Wetter and the Dry Drier? summary in PDF form.
Animations |
Animations of the type indicated by the picture above
are available in two different sizes.
years 2000 to 2100
720 x 480 resolution, 6fps
mpg-4 format, 129 frames total, 21.5 seconds at 6 fps [764KB]
years 2000 to 2100:
720 x 480 resolution, 4fps
mpg-4 format, 129 frames total, 50 seconds at 4 fps [764KB]
1280 x 720 resolution, 6fps
mpg-4 format, 200 frames total, 33.3 seconds at 6 fps [5.1MB]
1280 x 720 resolution, 4fps
mpg format, 200 frames total, 50 seconds at 4 fps [5.1MB]
A modified version of the animation - one that is smoother in appearance as indicated by the picture above
and covers two full centuries -
is available .mpg and .mov formats at 720x480 resolution.
years 1901 to 2100:
720 x 480 resolution, 30fps
.mpg format, 1600 frames total, 53.3 seconds at 30 fps [21MB]
years 1901 to 2100:
720 x 480 resolution, 30fps
.mov format, 1600 frames total, 53.3 seconds at 30 fps [15MB] animation descriptionThis animation depicts the time evolution of five-year averages of annual precipitation as simulated in the GFDL CM2.1 model for the period 2000 to 2100. Rather than mapping rainfall amounts in units of inches or millimeters, we have chosen to bin the values at each model grid point into five categories (indicated by the five colors in the color bar at the bottom of the plot). The categories were calculated as follows. After computing five year running averages of annual precipitation for each GFDL CM2.1 model grid point, the 1901-2000 period was analyzed. For each model grid point the maximum and minimum values for the 20th century were noted. Also, at each grid point, the individual 20th century five year rainfall values were ranked in order from driest to wettest, and then divided into three groups. Rainfall amounts falling in the driest third are designated below nomal (light tan), the wettest third are categorized as above normal (pale blue-green), and the middle third as near normal (off white). By definition these three middle colors will be the only ones would appear in maps the modeled 1901 to 2000 period. After 2000, when a five year precipitation average is less than any of the one hundred five year running averages simulated for the 20th century, that point and time is classified as drier than the 20th century (saddle brown). Similarly, when a five year rainfall value is greater than any simulated for that grid point during 1901-2000 period, it is labelled wetter than the 20th century (darker blue-green). These animations were produced using the output of the CM2.1 "H2" historical experiment for the 1901-2000 time period and the CM2.1 SRES A1B run for the 2001-2100 period. For more details about the computer modeling studies that produced the information displayed in these animations, please refer to the Will the Wet Get Wetter and the Dry Drier? summary in PDF form. |
Return to the main NOAA GFDL Climate Research Highlights web page
For to more details about the computer modeling studies that produced the information displayed here, please refer to the Will the Wet Get Wetter and the Dry Drier? summary in PDF form.