| Two-layer quasi-geostrophic model | the basic tool to understand the fundamental features of mid latitude weather conditions and its instabilities. It is a beta channel and it allows computational analysis of parametric dependencies as well as the analysis of short term growth of instabilities | |
| SAM | Shallow Atmosphere Model based on the shallow water equations, it is a model to be used to study planetary circulation phenomena which are essentially two-dimensional. |
| PUMA | Portable University Model of the Atmosphere, an atmospheric circulation model consisting of a dynamical core based on the Primitive Equations with simple parametrisations for friction and diabatic heating (Rayleigh friction, Newtonian cooling). | |
| Moist PUMA | a version of PUMA which includes moisture physics and a simplified parameterization scheme for the boundary layer and cloud physics | |
| PUMA/grey atmosphere | the PUMA model with the inclusion of a very simple radiative scheme and a simple model for the surface | |
| PlanetSimulator | a coupled system of climate components for Earth, Mars and other planets developed as a model of intermediate complexity. | |
| HadCM3 | and its low-resolution version, FAMOUS, a state-of-the-art atmospheric-ocean coupled general circulation model with advanced physical parametrisations developed by the UK Met Office-Hadley Centre. |
| See also: Forum for users and developers of Planet Simulator and PUMA |
Further developments aim at dealing with regional/hydrological models capable of producing simulations to be used for climate change impact assessment, its adaptation and mitigation policies. In particular we will have:
a) Regional climate model - WRF (Weather Research And Forecasting), a mesoscale model widely used for dynamically downscaling. It is planned to couple it with the Planet Simulator (PlaSim)
b) Hydrological model - VIC (Variable Infiltration Capacity), an open source, macro-scale and semi-distributed model from University of Washington, Dep. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, for the generation of water availability scenarios at basin scale.
Finally, we plan to develop socio-economical models integrated in PlaSim as part of the FuturICT initiative.