The Intermediate Complexity Atmospheric Research Model (ICAR)

This is particularly the case for atmospheric sciences, which have long relied on either simplistic analytical solutions or computationally expensive numerical models. The simpler solutions are inadequate for many problems, while the cost of numerical models makes their use impossible for many problems, most notably high-resolution climate downscaling applications spanning large areas, long time periods, and many global climate projections.

Here the Intermediate Complexity Atmospheric Research model (ICAR) is presented to provide a new step along the modeling complexity continuum. ICAR leverages an analytical solution for high-resolution perturbations to wind velocities, in conjunction with numerical physics schemes, that is, advection and cloud microphysics, to simulate the atmosphere. The focus of the initial development of ICAR is for predictions of precipitation, and eventually temperature, humidity, and radiation at the land surface.