GCAM scenarios combine Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) with Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) or policy targets. In GCAM-China, the DPEC (Dynamic Projection of Emissions in China) framework standardizes these combinations.
| Scenario Name | Meaning |
|---|---|
DPEC_SSP1 |
SSP1 baseline (no additional policy) |
DPEC_SSP2 |
SSP2 baseline |
DPEC_SSP3 |
SSP3 baseline |
DPEC_SSP4 |
SSP4 baseline |
DPEC_SSP5 |
SSP5 baseline |
DPEC_SSP1_Peak2030_NDC2035 |
SSP1 with peak 2030 and NDC 2035 |
DPEC_SSP1_Peak2030_NDC2035_NZ2060 |
SSP1 with peak 2030, NDC 2035, and net-zero 2060 |
Each scenario has a configuration XML that lists its components. The differences between scenarios come from:
For example, DPEC_SSP1 loads SSP1 socioeconomic data and standard technology assumptions, while DPEC_SSP1_Peak2030_NDC2035 adds emission constraints and possibly different share-weight files.
Scenarios are run by passing the configuration file to the GCAM executable. In the release package:
rem Run SSP1 baseline
gcam.exe -C configuration_china_ssp1.xml
rem Run DPEC scenario
gcam.exe -C DPEC\configuration_dpec_ssp1_19.xml
Results go to output/<scenario_name>/.
Each scenario creates a BaseX database at:
output/<scenario_name>/database_basexdb/
This is what the data extraction layer queries. The database name database_basexdb is the default used by both the release package and the rgcam R package.