The IITM Earth System Model (ESM): Development and Future Roadmap

Abstract

This article provides a brief account of the development of the IITM Earth System Model (IITM-ESM) at the Centre for Climate Change Research, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, in order to address key questions pertaining to the science of Climate Change. The IITM-ESM has been developed by transforming a state-of-the-art seasonal prediction model into a radiatively balanced climate modeling framework suitable for investigating long-term climate variability and change. The IITM-ESM is the first climate model from India to contribute to the Coupled Modeling Intercomparison Programme—Phase 6 (CMIP6) for the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) sixth assessment report (AR6). The IITM-ESM has shown promising capabilities required for making reliable assessments of the impacts of climate change on the (a) Global and regional monsoon hydroclimate, (b) Regional weather and climate extremes, (c) Global and Indian Ocean sea level, (d) Marine primary productivity and mechanisms controlling the ocean carbon cycle, and (e) Global and Himalayan cryosphere, to name a few important ones. Future plans for the development of high-resolution climate change projections and the next-generation community version of the IITM-ESM are also briefly discussed.