FRIDA-Clim v1.0.1: a simple climate model with process-based carbon cycle used in the integrated assessment model FRIDAv2.1

Abstract. The new global Feedback-based knowledge Repository for IntegrateD Assessments version 2.1 (FRIDAv2.1) Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) seeks to study the dynamics of the coupled human-Earth system. Connecting anthropogenic emissions to the resultant climate response is one part of the two-way feedback within this system, with the resultant climate impacts the other. This paper documents both the Climate Module within FRIDAv2.1, and the modified version separately simulated as a standalone simple climate model termed FRIDA-Clim version 1.0.1. This approach, based loosely on the existing FaIR simple climate model, simulates the key radiative forcings and the resultant temperature response, with process-based representations of the carbon cycle across the ocean, land, and atmosphere. When connected within the FRIDA IAM, it features deep connections to the other modules, being affected by processes such as water use for irrigation and land use change. In both uses, i.e. with the climate response interactively connected to the upstream human drivers and downstream climate impacts within the FRIDA IAM (coupled) and when ran separately as FRIDA-Clim driven by exogenous forcings (uncoupled), its climate drivers are simplified as compared to FaIR. This is to allow for this reduced set of key drivers to be interactively simulated within FRIDA, tightly coupling the evolution of the social and climate systems within the full model. Both the Climate Module and FRIDA-Clim are fully calibrated to accurately reproduce observations of key climate variables, with a systematic exploration of the uncertainty in the climate response. Together with the rest of the FRIDA model, this module is used to incorporate climate change systematically in the FRIDA System Dynamics IAM. As a standalone climate model, FRIDA-Clim comprises a simple climate model, enabling fast calculation of the global climate response to forcing; to explore this, the response of the model to both idealised CO2 emissions experiments and plausible future scenarios is also presented here. This setup will allow FRIDA-Clim to contribute to inter-model simple climate modelling initiatives, helping to explore the structural uncertainty in this modelling domain.

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Publication Details

Journal
Geoscientific model development
Published
2026-02-17
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-1429-2026
Primary Topic
Environmental Impact and Sustainability
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

FRIDA-Clim v1.0.1: a simple climate model with process-based carbon cycle used in the integrated assessment model FRIDAv2.1

Christopher Wells, Ada Gjermundsen, Lennart Ramme, William Alexander Schoenberg et al.
Geoscientific model development
Environmental Impact and Sustainability
article

FRIDA-Clim v1.0.1: a simple climate model with process-based carbon cycle used in the integrated assessment model FRIDAv2.1

Christopher Wells, Ada Gjermundsen, Lennart Ramme, William Alexander Schoenberg, Jannes Breier, B Blanz, Chao Li, Chris Smith, Adakudlu Muralidhar, Cecilie Mauritzen
article en

Abstract

Abstract. The new global Feedback-based knowledge Repository for IntegrateD Assessments version 2.1 (FRIDAv2.1) Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) seeks to study the dynamics of the coupled human-Earth system. Connecting anthropogenic emissions to the resultant climate response is one part of the two-way feedback within this system, with the resultant climate impacts the other. This paper documents both the Climate Module within FRIDAv2.1, and the modified version separately simulated as a standalone simple climate model termed FRIDA-Clim version 1.0.1. This approach, based loosely on the existing FaIR simple climate model, simulates the key radiative forcings and the resultant temperature response, with process-based representations of the carbon cycle across the ocean, land, and atmosphere. When connected within the FRIDA IAM, it features deep connections to the other modules, being affected by processes such as water use for irrigation and land use change. In both uses, i.e. with the climate response interactively connected to the upstream human drivers and downstream climate impacts within the FRIDA IAM (coupled) and when ran separately as FRIDA-Clim driven by exogenous forcings (uncoupled), its climate drivers are simplified as compared to FaIR. This is to allow for this reduced set of key drivers to be interactively simulated within FRIDA, tightly coupling the evolution of the social and climate systems within the full model. Both the Climate Module and FRIDA-Clim are fully calibrated to accurately reproduce observations of key climate variables, with a systematic exploration of the uncertainty in the climate response. Together with the rest of the FRIDA model, this module is used to incorporate climate change systematically in the FRIDA System Dynamics IAM. As a standalone climate model, FRIDA-Clim comprises a simple climate model, enabling fast calculation of the global climate response to forcing; to explore this, the response of the model to both idealised CO2 emissions experiments and plausible future scenarios is also presented here. This setup will allow FRIDA-Clim to contribute to inter-model simple climate modelling initiatives, helping to explore the structural uncertainty in this modelling domain.

Geoscientific model developmentVol. 19(4)
Dartmouth College (US), University of Leeds (GB), Norwegian Meteorological Institute (NO), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (AT), Universität Hamburg (DE), University of Oslo (NO), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE), Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (DE), Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (DE), Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, University of Bergen (NO), Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (DE)
Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 59%
Environmental Impact and Sustainability
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