Mission

The mission of the Geoengineering Modeling Research Consortium (GMRC) is to identify and prioritize critical research gaps in climate modeling with specific significance to solar geoengineering, otherwise known as solar radiation modification (SRM), and to coordinate among U.S. researchers to close those gaps through collaborative model assessment and development efforts.

Vision

Solar geoengineering is rapidly gaining interest in research and policy arenas, yet there are numerous critical gaps in our understanding of the physical effects of solar radiation management on the climate. Solar geoengineering acts on the climate in a way which is somewhat different from greenhouse gases or other more commonly-modeled or observed climate forcers. As such, these gaps might not be addressed by existing climate modeling efforts. Responsible decision support requires that these gaps be closed. Computer modeling can not only aid in closing these gaps, but also in identifying future priorities for additional research avenues, such as laboratory or field experiments.

Through the GMRC, we aim to build a collaborative environment among U.S. researchers interested in solar geoengineering whereby these key uncertainties can be identified and addressed through modeling. This has the added advantage that any single researcher or group may have limited time and multiple competing priorities, but by pooling resources on high priority problems, steady progress can be made in answering critical questions about solar geoengineering. GMRC activities will complement and interface with existing solar geoengineering research efforts, such as the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP), with each project informing others for mutual benefit.

Scope

The GMRC will coordinate modeling efforts by U.S.-based research teams to reveal — and close — gaps in process-level and climatic understanding of the effects of stratospheric aerosol geoengineering. Collaborations with non-U.S. researchers will be pursued as needed. The ultimate aim is that findings produced by GMRC researchers will enable society-relevant applications such as policy development and impacts studies, although the GMRC will not directly conduct research in those areas.

The GMRC is intended to be a forum for research, and a platform for its members to publicly communicate their work and the group’s perceived research priorities. It does not seek, hold, or disburse funding for research projects. The only exception to this is small administrative grants which the GMRC may seek to cover its own operating costs, such as meeting expenses and website maintenance. Members of the GMRC steering committee are not financially compensated for this role.

Meetings & Workshops

• 1^st GMRC Workshop: 20-21 May 2019, NCAR, Boulder CO [ Meeting Synthesis PDF ]
• 2^nd GMRC Workshop: 30 September 2019, Harvard University, Boston MA [ Meeting Synthesis PDF ]
• 3^rd GMRC Workshop: 14 April 2020 * Virtual Workshop, held on 12 June 2020 [ Meeting Synthesis Video * Held on 12 June 2020 ]
• 2021 GMRC Lightning Talks, Session 1: Wednesday, January 6th 11AM-12:30PM EST (9-10:30AM MT) [ Speaker Presentation Slides ]
• 2021 GMRC Lightning Talks, Session 2 "Modeling Ice Albedo Modification": Wednesday, March 3rd 11AM-12:30PM EST (9-10:30AM MT) [ Speaker Presentation Slides ]
• 2021 GMRC Lightning Talks, Session 3 "NAS Report on Reflecting Sunlight": Wednesday, May 12th 11AM-12:30PM EST (9-10:30AM MT)
• 2021 GMRC Lightning Talks, Session 4: "Modeling challenges in cirrus cloud thinning": Wednesday, August 4th 9AM-10:30AM MT : Speakers: Blaz Gasparini, Andrew Gettelman, and Ulrike Lohmann
• 2021 GMRC Lightning Talks, Session 5: "Observational needs to improve modeling of stratospheric aerosols": Thursday, October 21st 9AM-10:30AM MT : Speakers: Thomas Peter, Valentina Aquila, Daniel Cziczo, and Troy Thornberry
• 2022 GMRC Lightning Talks, Session 1: "Open questions in marine cloud brightening": Wednesday, January 12th 9AM MT : Speakers: Rob Wood, Graham Feingold, Ying Chen, Matt Christensen
• 2022 GMRC Lightning Talks, Session 2: "Learning from modeling pyroCB and nuclear winter": Thursday, March 31st : Speakers: Alan Robock, Brian Toon, Pengfei Yu
• 2022 GMRC Lightning Talks, Session 3: "The effect of aerosol representation on the simulated impacts of SAI geoengineering": Thursday, June 16th 10AM - 11:30AM MT : Register Here

Steering Committee

• Amy Butler, NOAA, [ amy.butler@noaa.gov ]
• David Keith, Harvard University [ david_keith@harvard.edu ]
• Doug MacMartin, Cornell University [ dgm224@cornell.edu ]
• James Haywood, University of Exeter [ J.M.Haywood@exeter.ac.uk ]
• Sarah Doherty, University of Washington [ sarahd@atmos.washington.edu ]
• Sebastian Eastham (Chair), MIT [ seastham@mit.edu ]

Members

• American University, Valentina Aquila
• California Institute of Technology, Tapio Schneider
• Colorado State University, Jim Hurrell, Jeff Pierce
• Cornell University, Doug MacMartin, Daniel Visioni
• Harvard University, Coleen Golja, Peter Irvine, David Keith, Debra Weisenstein
• MIT, Sebastian Eastham
• NCAR, Katie Dagon, John Fasullo, Jean-François Lamarque, Gerald Meehl, Mike Mills, Jadwiga (Yaga) H. Richter, Isla Simpson, Simone Tilmes, Joe Tribbia
• NOAA, Amy Butler, David Fahey, Larry Horowitz, Vaishali Naik, Karen Rosenlof
• PARC, Sean Garner, Kalai Ramea
• PNNL, Phil Rasch
• Princeton University, Gabe Vecchi
• Rutgers University, Alan Robock, Lili Xia
• University of Washington, Sarah Doherty, Rob Wood