MultiBox: Climate Energy Balance Models

Overview

MultiBox is a collection of climate energy balance models (EBMs) that simulate Earth's climate system through different box configurations. The repository includes implementations of two-box, three-box, and multi-box models that compute temperature distributions based on solar radiation, albedo, and energy transport mechanisms.

These models were developed as part of a thesis research project and offer tools for studying climate dynamics through the lens of energy balance and maximum entropy production (MEP) principles.

Features

• 🌞 Solar Radiation Model: Computes incoming solar radiation as a function of latitude.
• 📦 Multiple Model Configurations:
  • Two-box model (polar and equatorial zones)
  • Three-box model (southern, equatorial, and northern zones)
  • Multi-box model (custom number of latitude bands)
• 🧰 Data Processing Tools: Scripts for processing and visualizing climate and satellite data.
• 📊 Validation Against Observations: Comparisons with:
  • NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis temperature data
  • CERES satellite radiation measurements
  • Published estimates of meridional heat transport

Requirements

• Python 3.x
• numpy
• scipy
• matplotlib
• xarray

Usage

Solar Radiation Model

The SWA.py module calculates the mean annual solar radiation as a function of latitude, accounting for Earth's axial tilt and orbital characteristics:

import SWA

# Calculate for latitude -90° (South Pole) with albedo 0.31
latitude = -90
albedo = 0.31
radiation = SWA.SWA_calc(latitude, albedo)

print(f"Annual mean absorbed radiation: {radiation} W/m²")

Data Processing Tools

The repository includes scripts for working with observational datasets:

• mapa_albedo.py: Calculates albedo from satellite data and estimates surface temperatures.
• temperaturas_tierra.py: Computes zonal temperature averages with area weighting.

Climate Models

Core model scripts include:

• twobox_Lorenz.py: Two-box model (polar and equatorial zones)
• threebox.py: Three-box model (southern, equatorial, and northern zones)
• multibox_2.0.py: Multi-box model with a configurable number of latitude bands

Validation

The models have been validated against observational and reanalysis data:

• 🌡️ Comparison of modeled temperatures with NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis
• ☀️ Comparison of radiation fluxes with CERES satellite observations
• 🔁 Comparison of meridional heat transport with literature values

Documentation

For an in-depth explanation of the models and theoretical foundations, refer to:

• 📘 Thesis (in Spanish): http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.36246.97603
• 📚 Project Wiki: Available via the GitHub DeepWiki

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 – see the LICENSE file for details.

Author

Carlos Silva
📧 csilva@fceia.unr.edu.ar

Citation

If you use this code in your research, please cite:

Silva, C. M. (2024). MultiBox: Climate Energy Balance Models. GitHub repository. https://github.com/carlosmtron/multibox

And the thesis:

Silva, C. M. (2024). El clima de la Tierra como un estado estacionario de máxima producción de entropía. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.36246.97603

Acknowledgments

• NCEP/NCAR for reanalysis datasets
• CERES Team for satellite radiation measurements
• Researchers and authors in the field of EBMs and MEP theory