| Experiment | Official Short Name of Experiment | Description | Experiment number | CMIP5 designated tier | Years requested per run | Ensemble size requested | Status of the simulation | Number of runs | Wiki | Details | ATLAS | MONITORING |
| pre-industrial control | piControl | coupled atmosphere/ocean control run | 3,1 | core | >500 | 1 | | 1 | | | q | q |
| historical | historical | simulation of recent past (1850-2005) | 3,2 | core | 156 | 1 | | 1 | | | q | q |
| AMIP | amip | AMIP (1979-2008) | 3,3 | core | >30 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| historical | historical | increase ensemble size of expt. 3.2 | 3.2-E | tier 1 | 156 | >2 | | | | | q | q |
| AMIP | amip | increase ensemble size of expt. 3.3 | 3.3-E | tier 1 | >30 | >2 | | | | | q | q |
| mid-Holocene | midHolocene | consistent with PMIP, impose Mid-Holocene conditions | 3,4 | tier1 | >100 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| last glacial maximum | lgm | consistent with PMIP, impose last glacial maximum conditions | 3,5 | tier 1 | >100 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| last millennium | past1000 | consistent with PMIP, impose forcing for 850-1850 | 3,6 | tier 2 | 1000 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| RCP4.5 | rcp45 | future projection (2006-2100) forced by RCP4.5 | 4,1 | core | 95 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| RCP8.5 | rcp85 | future projection (2006-2100) forced by RCP8.5 | 4,2 | core | 95 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| RCP2.6 | rcp26 | future projection (2006-2100) forced by RCP2.6 | 4,3 | tier 1 | 95 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| RCP6 | rcp60 | future projection (2006-2100) forced by RCP6 | 4,4 | tier 1 | 95 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| RCP4.5 | rcp45 | extension of expt. 4.1 through 2300 | 4.1-L | tier 1 | 200 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| RCP8.5 | rcp85 | extension of expt. 4.2 through 2300 | 4.3-L | tier 2 | 200 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| RCP2.6 | rcp26 | extension of expt. 4.3 through 2300 | 4.l-L | tier 3 | 200 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| ESM pre-industrial control | esmControl | as in expt. 3.1, but atmospheric CO2 determined by model | 5,1 | core | >251 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| Emission-driven historical | esmHistorical | as in expt. 3.2, but with atmospheric CO2 determined by model | 5,2 | core | 156 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| emission-driven RCP8.5 | esmrcp85 | as in expt. 4.2, but with atmospheric CO2 determined by model | 5,3 | core | 95 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| ESM fixed climate 1 | esmFixClim1 | radiation code "sees" control CO2, but carbon cycle sees 1%/yr rise | 5.4-1 | tier 1 | 140 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| ESM fixed climate 2 | esmFixClim2 | radiation code "sees" control CO2, but carbon cycle sees historical followed by RCP4.5 rise in CO2 | 5.4-2 | tier 1 | 251 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| ESM feedback 1 | esmFdbk1 | carbon cycle "sees" control CO2, but radiatation sees 1%/yr rise | 5.5-1 | tier 2 | 140 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| ESM feedback 2 | esmFdbk2 | carbon cycle "sees" control CO2, but radiatation sees historical followed by RCP4.5 rise in CO2 | 5.5-2 | tier 2 | 251 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| 1 percent per year CO2 | 1pctCO2 | imposed 1%/yr increase in CO2 to quadrupling | 6,1 | core | 140 | 1 | | 1 | | | q | q |
| control SST climatology | sstClim | An atmosphere-only run driven by prescribed climatological SST and sea ice. | 6.2a | core | >30 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| CO2 forcing | sstClim4xco2 | as in expt. 6.2a, but with 4XCO2 imposed | 6.2b | core | >30 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| abrupt 4XCO2 | abrupt4xco2 | impose an instantaneous quadrupling of CO2, then hold fixed | 6,3 | core | 150 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| abrupt 4XCO2 | abrupt4xCO2 | generate an ensemble of runs like expt. 6.3, initialized in different months, and terminated after 5 years | 6.3-E | tier 1 | 5 | 11 | | | | | q | q |
| anthropogenic aerosol forcing | sstClimAerosol | as in expt. 6.2a, but with anthropogenic aerosols from year 2000 of expt. 3.2 | 6.4a | tier 1 | >30 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| sulfate aerosol forcing | sstClimSulfate | as in expt. 6.2a, but with sulfate aerosols from year 2000 of expt. 3.2 | 6.4b | tier 1 | >30 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| Cloud response to imposed 4xCO2 | amip4xco2 | consistent with CFMIP, impose AMIP (1979-2008) conditions (expt. 3.3) but with 4xCO2 | 6,5 | tier 1 | 30 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| Cloud response to an imposed change in SST pattern | amip Future | consistent with CFMIP, add a patterned SST perturbation to AMIP SSTs of expt. 3.3. | 6,6 | tier 1 | 30 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| aqua planet: control run | auquaControl | consistent with CFMIP, impose zonally uniform SSTs on a planet without continents | 6.7a | tier 1 | 5 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| aqua planet: cloud response to imposed 4xCO2 | aqua4xco2 | Consistent with CFMIP requirements, impose 4xCO2 on the zonally uniform SSTs of expt. 6.7a | 6.7b | tier 1 | 5 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| Aqua-planet: cloud response to an imposed uniform change in SST. | aqua4K | Consistent with CFMIP requirements, add a uniform +4K to the zonally uniform SSTs of expt. 6.7a (which is the control for this run). | 6.7c | tier 1 | 5 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| Cloud response to an imposed uniform change in SST | amip4K | Consistent with CFMIP requirements, add a uniform +4 K SST to the AMIP SSTs of expt. 3.3 (which is the "control" for this run). | 6,8 | tier 2 | 30 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| natural-only | historicalNat | historical simulation but with natural forcing only | 7,1 | tier 1 | 156 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| GHG-only | historicalGhg | historical simulation but with greenhouse gas forcing only | 7,2 | tier 1 | 156 | 1 | | | | | q | q |
| other-only | historical??? | historical simulation but with other individual forcing agents | 7,3 | tier 2 | 156 | >1 | | | | | q | q |
| natural-only | historicalNat | increase ensemble size of expt. 7.1 | 7.1-E | tier 2 | 156 | >2 | | | | | q | q |
| GHG-only | historicalGHG | increase ensemble size of expt. 7.2 | 7.2-E | tier 2 | 156 | >2 | | | | | q | q |
| onther-only | historical?** | increase ensemble size of expt. 7.3 | 7.3-E | tier 2 | 156 | >2 | | | | | q | q |
