Understanding Spatial and Temporal Resolution in CMIP6 Models

Spatial Resolution

Spatial resolution specifies the horizontal size of the grid cells (in degrees of latitude and longitude or in km). We use only regulars grids (in degrees) so we only specify one value (e.g. 0.1° instead of 0.11°x0.1°).

Temporal Resolution

Temporal resolution refers to the size of the time steps used in models; how often (in simulated or “model time”) calculations of the climate variables are calculated.Temporal resolution refers to the precision of the data with respect to time. For the moment we only provide Daily values.