Understanding Perturbed Parameter Ensemble Sensitivities Using A Contrastive Learning Approach
Quick summary
arXiv:2609.30420v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Perturbed parameter ensembles (PPEs) reveal how physics parameters affect climate simulations, but interpreting parameter sensitivities across multivariate, spatially structured outputs remains challenging, particularly when calibrating models against observations. We develop an explainable contrastive learning model that maps 5 monthly cloud and radiation fields into a shared representation space. We train the model on the fields of two 100-member Community Atmosphere Model version 6 (CAM6) PPEs, spanning 34 parameters, that only differ in the
Key takeaways
- arXiv:2609.30420v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Perturbed parameter ensembles (PPEs) reveal how physics parameters affect climate simulations, but interpreting parameter sensitivities across multivariate, spatially structured outputs remains challenging, particularly when calibrating models against observations.
- We develop an explainable contrastive learning model that maps 5 monthly cloud and radiation fields into a shared representation space.
- We train the model on the fields of two 100-member Community Atmosphere Model version 6 (CAM6) PPEs, spanning 34 parameters, that only differ in the
Why it matters
This model development creates a new option for users and a new testing obligation for developers. A fixed evaluation set comparing quality, cost and failure behavior is more useful than launch claims.

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