Differences between Seasonal and Mean Annual Energy Balance Model Calculations of Climate and Climate Sensitivity

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Abstract
A simple Budyko-Sellers mean annual energy balance climate model with diffusive transport (North, 1975b) is extended to include a seasonal cycle. In the model the latitudinal distribution of the zonal average surface temperature is represented by a series of Legendre polynomials, while its time-dependence is represented by a Fourier sine-cosine series. The model has three parameters which are adjusted so that the observed amplitudes of the Northern Hemisphere's zonal mean surface temperature are recovered. In order to obtain the correct amplitude and phase of the surface temperature's seasonal oscillation, allowance must be made for the disparity between the thermal inertia of the atmosphere over continents and that of the ocean's mixed layer. Although the model parameters are adjusted to recover the surface temperature fields of the Northern Hemisphere, a test of the model's ability to produce the fields of the Southern Hemisphere indicates that the model responds properly to changes in boundary... Abstract A simple Budyko-Sellers mean annual energy balance climate model with diffusive transport (North, 1975b) is extended to include a seasonal cycle. In the model the latitudinal distribution of the zonal average surface temperature is represented by a series of Legendre polynomials, while its time-dependence is represented by a Fourier sine-cosine series. The model has three parameters which are adjusted so that the observed amplitudes of the Northern Hemisphere's zonal mean surface temperature are recovered. In order to obtain the correct amplitude and phase of the surface temperature's seasonal oscillation, allowance must be made for the disparity between the thermal inertia of the atmosphere over continents and that of the ocean's mixed layer. Although the model parameters are adjusted to recover the surface temperature fields of the Northern Hemisphere, a test of the model's ability to produce the fields of the Southern Hemisphere indicates that the model responds properly to changes in boundary...

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