Abstract
Cloud processes constitute one of the key uncertainties for climate change projections. The fourth iteration of the Cloud Feedback Model Intercomparison Project, CFMIP4, contributes to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 7 (CMIP7), by providing a set of global climate model experiments aiming to enhance our understanding of clouds, circulation and climate sensitivity, thereby informing improved projections of future climate change. CFMIP4 targets four knowledge gaps: (1) Physical mechanisms of cloud feedback and adjustment; (2) Dependence of cloud feedback and adjustment on climate base state and on the nature of the forcing; (3) Coupled mechanisms of the sea-surface temperature “pattern effect”; and (4) Coupling of clouds with circulation and precipitation. CFMIP4 contributes four CMIP7 Assessment Fast Track experiments that are central to the quantification of climate feedback and sensitivity in past, present and future climates, essential for process understanding and model evaluation. Furthermore, CFMIP4 supports the joint analysis of models and observations through a data request that includes process and satellite simulator output.