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Gravity waves (GWs) are among the key drivers of the meridional overturning circulation in the mesosphere and upper stratosphere. Their representation in climate models suffers from insufficient resolution and limited observational constraints on their parameterizations. This obscures assessments of middle atmospheric circulation changes in a changing climate. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of stratospheric GW activity above and downstream of the Andes from 1 to 15 August 2019, with special focus on GW representation ranging from an unprecedented kilometer-scale global forecast model (1.4 km ECMWF IFS), ground-based Rayleigh lidar (CORAL) observations, modern reanalysis (ERA5), to a coarse-resolution climate model (EMAC). Resolved vertical flux of zonal GW momentum (GWMF) is found to be stronger by a factor of at least 2–2.5 in IFS compared to ERA5. Compared to resolved GWMF in IFS, parameterizations in ERA5 and EMAC continue to inaccurately generate excessive GWMF poleward of 60°S, yielding prominent differences between resolved and parameterized GWMFs. A like-to-like validation of GW profiles in IFS and ERA5 reveals similar wave structures. Still, even at ∼1 km resolution, the resolved waves in IFS are weaker than those observed by lidar. Further, GWMF estimates across datasets reveal that temperature-based proxies, based on midfrequency approximations for linear GWs, overestimate GWMF due to simplifications and uncertainties in GW wavelength estimation from data. Overall, the analysis provides GWMF benchmarks for parameterization validation and calls for three-dimensional GW parameterizations, better upper-boundary treatment, and vertical resolution increases commensurate with increases in horizontal resolution in models, for a more realistic GW analysis. Significance Statement: Gravity wave–induced momentum forcing forms a key component of the middle atmospheric circulation. However, complete knowledge of gravity waves, their atmospheric effects, and their long-term trends are obscured due to limited global observations, and the inability of current climate models to fully resolve them. This study combines a kilometer-scale forecast model, modern reanalysis, and a coarse-resolution climate model to first compare the resolved and parameterized momentum fluxes by gravity waves generated over the Andes, and then evaluate the fluxes using a state-of-the-art ground-based Rayleigh lidar. Our analysis reveals shortcomings in current model parameterizations of gravity waves in the middle atmosphere and highlights the sensitivity of the estimated flux to the formulation used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global ECMWF IFS simulations with horizontal grid spacings of 1, 4, and 9 km are used to assess gravity wave forcing (GWF) in the extratropical stratosphere. Results with important implications for GWF parameterizations at high and intermediate resolutions are presented. A doubling in the zonal-mean resolved GWF is observed when the horizontal resolution is increased from 9 to 1 km. Small-scale gravity waves with horizontal wavelengths < 100 km dominate this increase. Over most regions, excluding the polar night jet in the Antarctic spring, the total (resolved + parameterized) GWF at 9 km (4 km) is underestimated by up to 30% (15%). This implies that the parameterization of GWF is still required at 9 and 4 km horizontal resolutions. Despite the small land area in the Southern Hemisphere (SH), the resolved orographic and nonorographic GWF contribute equally to the total GWF in the SH at 1 km resolution. This is not reflected in the partitioning of the parameterized GWF, which has a significantly larger nonorographic contribution at 9 km. As a result, a zonal-mean momentum budget analysis reveals that the total GWF contributes one-third of SH springtime polar vortex deceleration at 1 km, whereas the contribution is as much as 50% at 9 km. This suggests that a rebalancing of the parameterized nonorographic and orographic GWF is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stratospheric gravity waves observed during the DEEPWAVE research flight RF25 over the Southern Ocean are analyzed and compared with numerical weather prediction (NWP) model results. The quantitative agreement of the NWP model output and the tropospheric and lower-stratospheric observations is remarkable. The high-resolution NWP models are even able to reproduce qualitatively the observed upper-stratospheric gravity waves detected by an airborne Rayleigh lidar. The usage of high-resolution ERA5 data—partially capturing the long internal gravity waves—enabled a thorough interpretation of the particular event. Here, the observed and modeled gravity waves are excited by the stratospheric flow past a deep tropopause depression belonging to an eastward-propagating Rossby wave train. In the reference frame of the propagating Rossby wave, vertically propagating hydrostatic gravity waves appear stationary; in reality, of course, they are transient and propagate horizontally at the phase speed of the Rossby wave. The subsequent refraction of these transient gravity waves into the polar night jet explains their observed and modeled patchy stratospheric occurrence near 60°S. The combination of both unique airborne observations and high-resolution NWP output provides evidence for the one case investigated in this paper. As the excitation of such gravity waves persists during the quasi-linear propagation phase of the Rossby wave's life cycle, a hypothesis is formulated that parts of the stratospheric gravity wave belt over the Southern Ocean might be generated by such Rossby wave trains propagating along the midlatitude waveguide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Idealized integral studies of the dynamics of atmospheric inertia–gravity waves (IGWs) from their sources in the troposphere (e.g., by spontaneous emission from jets and fronts) to dissipation and mean flow effects at higher altitudes could contribute to a better treatment of these processes in IGW parameterizations in numerical weather prediction and climate simulation. It seems important that numerical codes applied for this purpose are efficient and focus on the essentials. Therefore, a previously published staggered-grid solver for f-plane soundproof pseudoincompressible dynamics is extended here by two main components. These are 1) a semi-implicit time stepping scheme for the integration of buoyancy and Coriolis effects, and 2) the incorporation of Newtonian heating consistent with pseudoincompressible dynamics. This heating function is used to enforce a temperature profile that is baroclinically unstable in the troposphere and it allows the background state to vary in time. Numerical experiments for several benchmarks are compared against a buoyancy/Coriolis-explicit third-order Runge–Kutta scheme, verifying the accuracy and efficiency of the scheme. Preliminary mesoscale simulations with baroclinic wave activity in the troposphere show intensive small-scale wave activity at high altitudes, and they also indicate there the expected reversal of the zonal-mean zonal winds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the extratropical atmosphere, Rossby waves (RWs) and internal gravity waves (GWs) propagating from the troposphere mediate a coupling with the middle atmosphere by influencing the dynamics therein. In state‐of‐the‐art chemistry‐climate models (CCMs), RW effects are well resolved while the majority of GW effects have to be parameterized. Here, we analyze orographic GW (OGW) interaction with resolved dynamics in a comprehensive CCM on daily time scales. For this, we apply a recently developed method of strong OGW drag event composites for three pronounced northern hemisphere OGW hotspots. We show that strong OGW drag events are associated with anomalous resolved wave propagation in the stratosphere. Causal links are inferred from previously published work and are supported by the anomalies in zonal circulation and wave activity tendencies. The nature of these anomalies varies depending on the hotspot region, which underlines the parameterized OGW‐resolved dynamics interaction being a two‐way process. Plain Language Summary: The majority of atmospheric waves are generated near the surface and propagate subsequently upward in the atmosphere. This includes Rossby waves that are resolved in climate models and small‐scale gravity waves (GWs) that commonly have to be parameterized. In the middle atmosphere, the waves eventually break, thereby dissipating their momentum and energy, which influences atmospheric dynamics. The interaction of GWs with the large‐scale circulation is to date poorly understood. In this study, we associate regionally enhanced GW drag with anomalies in resolved wave propagation in the stratosphere in a comprehensive chemistry‐climate model on the time scale of days. For this, we identify strong orographic GW (OGW) events for the three most pronounced northern hemisphere OGW hotspots and construct composites of anomalies of selected variables with respect to the climatological mean. We find that the response of the resolved wavefield strongly depends on the hotspot region, leading to diverse consequences on the large‐scale stratospheric circulation. Strong OGW events in the hotspots are in turn determined by the resolved fields from the surface to the level of OGW dissipation, which highlights the two‐way coupling between OGWs and resolved flow. Key Points: Intermittent parameterized orographic gravity wave drag affects stratospheric large‐scale dynamics in a chemistry‐climate modelDependence of the resolved dynamical response on the hotspot in question underlines the two‐way nature of the interactionUnsteady nature of the dynamical response sheds new light on how parameterized orographic gravity waves affect stratospheric transport [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of global orography on Northern Hemisphere wintertime climate is revisited using the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model, version 6 (WACCM6). A suite of experiments explores the roles of both resolved orography and the parameterized effects of unresolved orographic drag (hereafter parameterized orography), including gravity waves and boundary layer turbulence. Including orography reduces the extratropical tropospheric and stratospheric zonal mean zonal wind U ¯ by up to 80%; this is substantially greater than previous estimates. Ultimately, parameterized orography accounts for 60%–80% of this reduction; however, away from the surface most of the forcing of U ¯ by parameterized orography is accomplished by resolved planetary waves. We propose that a catalytic wave–mean-flow positive feedback in the stratosphere makes the stratospheric flow particularly sensitive to parameterized orography. Orography and land–sea contrast contribute approximately equally to the strength of the midlatitude stationary waves in the free troposphere, although orography is the dominant cause of the strength of the Siberian high and Aleutian low at the surface and of the position of the Icelandic low. We argue that precisely quantifying the role of orography on the observed stationary waves is an almost intractable problem, and in particular should not be approached with linear stationary wave models in which U ¯ is prescribed. We show that orography has less impact on stationary waves, and therefore on U ¯ , on a backward-rotating Earth. Last, we show that atmospheric meridional heat transport shows remarkable constancy across our simulations, despite vastly different climates and stationary wave strengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the extratropical atmosphere, Rossby waves (RWs) and internal gravity waves (GWs) propagating from the troposphere mediate a coupling with the middle atmosphere by influencing the dynamics therein. In state‐of‐the‐art chemistry‐climate models (CCMs), RW effects are well resolved while the majority of GW effects have to be parameterized. Here, we analyze orographic GW (OGW) interaction with resolved dynamics in a comprehensive CCM on daily time scales. For this, we apply a recently developed method of strong OGW drag event composites for three pronounced northern hemisphere OGW hotspots. We show that strong OGW drag events are associated with anomalous resolved wave propagation in the stratosphere. Causal links are inferred from previously published work and are supported by the anomalies in zonal circulation and wave activity tendencies. The nature of these anomalies varies depending on the hotspot region, which underlines the parameterized OGW‐resolved dynamics interaction being a two‐way process. Plain Language Summary: The majority of atmospheric waves are generated near the surface and propagate subsequently upward in the atmosphere. This includes Rossby waves that are resolved in climate models and small‐scale gravity waves (GWs) that commonly have to be parameterized. In the middle atmosphere, the waves eventually break, thereby dissipating their momentum and energy, which influences atmospheric dynamics. The interaction of GWs with the large‐scale circulation is to date poorly understood. In this study, we associate regionally enhanced GW drag with anomalies in resolved wave propagation in the stratosphere in a comprehensive chemistry‐climate model on the time scale of days. For this, we identify strong orographic GW (OGW) events for the three most pronounced northern hemisphere OGW hotspots and construct composites of anomalies of selected variables with respect to the climatological mean. We find that the response of the resolved wavefield strongly depends on the hotspot region, leading to diverse consequences on the large‐scale stratospheric circulation. Strong OGW events in the hotspots are in turn determined by the resolved fields from the surface to the level of OGW dissipation, which highlights the two‐way coupling between OGWs and resolved flow. Key Points: Intermittent parameterized orographic gravity wave drag affects stratospheric large‐scale dynamics in a chemistry‐climate modelDependence of the resolved dynamical response on the hotspot in question underlines the two‐way nature of the interactionUnsteady nature of the dynamical response sheds new light on how parameterized orographic gravity waves affect stratospheric transport [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planetary waves (PWs) and gravity waves (GWs) are the key drivers of middle atmospheric circulation. Insufficient observations and inaccurate model representation of GWs limit our understanding of their stratospheric contributions, especially during the Antarctic polar vortex breakdown. This study employs the strength of the high‐resolution ERA5 reanalysis in resolving a broad spectrum of GWs in southern midlatitudes and its ability to estimate their forcing during the breakdown period. Most of the resolved southern hemisphere GWs deposit momentum around 60°S over the Southern Ocean. Further, a zonal momentum budget analysis during the breakdown period reveals that the resolved GW forcing in ERA5 provides as much as one‐fourth of the necessary wind deceleration at 60°S, 10 hPa. The parameterized GW drag, mostly from non‐orographic sources, provides more than half of the wind deceleration. Both findings highlight the key role of GWs in the vortex breakdown and discuss possibilities for further stratospheric GW analysis. Plain Language Summary: Strong flow over mountains during winters and instabilities in the southern hemisphere troposphere can excite gravity waves that propagate from near‐surface all the way to atmospheric heights of 50–80 km. At these heights, they dissipate momentum and decelerate the strong eastward winds. Knowing the structure and extent of the forcing by these waves can help to better understand their role in driving the stratospheric and mesospheric circulation. However, the net forcing by these waves is not accurately known on account of limited observations and because global climate models cannot sufficiently resolve them. This study illustrates that the high‐resolution ERA5 reanalysis, which forms a natural bridge between observations and free running climate models, can be used to estimate the mean forcing due to such gravity waves and can help assess their role in springtime deceleration of polar vortex. Such an analysis was not possible using previous reanalysis datasets due to low resolution. The findings show that, indeed, gravity wave forcing can provide a large fraction of the deceleration needed to slow down the strong westerly winds in late winters. Key Points: ERA5 partially resolves gravity waves allowing evaluation of their contribution to the springtime polar vortex breakdownClimatology of the gravity wave forcing highlights relevance of gravity wave refraction and oblique propagation and suggests deceleration of up to −8 m/s/day around 60°SDeceleration of the vortex due to gravity wave dissipation can be as high as the total necessary deceleration for the vortex breakdown [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes stratospheric waves in ERA5 and evaluates the contributions of different types of waves to the driving of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO). Because of its higher spatial resolution compared to its predecessors, ERA5 is capable of resolving a broader spectrum of waves. It is shown that the resolved waves contribute to both eastward and westward accelerations near the equator, mainly by the way of the vertical flux of zonal momentum. The eastward accelerations by the resolved waves are mainly due to Kelvin waves and small-scale gravity (SSG) waves with zonal wavelengths smaller than 2000 km, whereas the westward accelerations are forced mainly by SSG waves, with smaller contributions from inertio-gravity and mixed Rossby-gravity waves. Extratropical Rossby waves disperse upward and equatorward into the tropical region and impart a westward acceleration to the zonal flow. They appear to be responsible for at least some of the irregularities in the QBO cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamics and momentum budget of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) are examined in ERA5. Because of ERA5's higher spatial resolution compared to its predecessors, it is capable of resolving a broader spectrum of atmospheric waves and allows for a better representation of the wave-mean flow interactions, both of which are of crucial importance for QBO studies. It is shown that the QBO-induced mean meridional circulation, which is mainly confined to the winter hemisphere, is strong enough to interrupt the tropical upwelling during the descent of thewesterly shear zones. Since the momentum advection tends to damp the QBO, the wave forcing is responsible for both the downward propagation and for themaintenance of theQBO. It is shown that half the requiredwave forcing is provided by resolvedwaves during the descent of both westerly and easterly regimes. Planetary-scale waves account for most of the resolved wave forcing of the descent of westerly shear zones and small-scale gravity (SSG) waves with wavelengths shorter than 2000 km account for the remainder. SSGwaves account for most of the resolved forcing of the descent of the easterly shear zones. The representation of the mean fields in the QBO is very similar in ERA5 and ERA-Interim but the resolved wave forcing is substantially stronger in ERA5. The contributions of the various equatorially trapped wave modes to the QBO forcing are documented in Part II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stratosphere is one of the main potential sources for subseasonal to seasonal predictability in midlatitudes in winter. The ability of an atmospheric model to realistically simulate the stratospheric dynamics is essential in order to move forward in the field of seasonal predictions in midlatitudes. Earlier studies with the ICOsahedral Nonhydrostatic atmospheric model (ICON) point out that stratospheric westerlies in ICON are underestimated. This is the first extensive study on the evaluation of Northern Hemisphere stratospheric winter circulation with ICON in numerical weather prediction (NWP) mode. Seasonal experiments with the default setup are able to reproduce the basic climatology of the stratospheric polar vortex. However, westerlies are too weak and major stratospheric warmings too frequent in ICON. Both a reduction of the nonorographic, and a reduction of the orographic gravity wave and wake drag lead to a strengthening of the stratospheric vortex and a bias reduction, in particular in January. However, the effect of the nonorographic gravity wave drag scheme on the stratosphere is stronger. Stratosphere‐troposphere coupling is intensified and more realistic due to a reduced gravity wave drag. Furthermore, an adjustment of the subgrid‐scale orographic drag parameterization leads to a significant error reduction in the mean sea level pressure. As a result of these findings, we present our current suggested improved setup for seasonal experiments with ICON‐NWP. Plain Language Summary: Although seasonal forecasts for midlatitudes have the potential to be highly beneficial to the public sector, they are still characterized by a large amount of uncertainty. Exact simulations of the circulation in the stratosphere can help to improve tropospheric predictability on seasonal time scales. For this reason, we investigate how well the new German atmospheric model is able to simulate the stratospheric circulation. The model reproduces the basic behavior of the Northern Hemisphere stratospheric polar vortex, but the westerly circulation in winter is underestimated. The stratospheric circulation is influenced by gravity waves that exert drag on the flow. These processes are only partly physically represented in the model, but are very important and are hence parameterized. By adjusting the parameterizations for the gravity wave drag, the stratospheric polar vortex is strengthened, thereby yielding a more realistic stratospheric circulation. In addition, the altered parameterizations improve the simulated surface pressure pattern. Based upon this, we present our current suggested improved model setup for seasonal experiments. Key Points: Seasonal simulations with ICON‐NWP underestimate stratospheric vortex strength in winterAdjusted gravity wave drag schemes lead to reduced biases in Northern Hemisphere circulationStratosphere‐troposphere coupling is intensified with a reduced gravity wave drag [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of gravity waves (GWs) in a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event that occurred in January 2009 (SSW09) is investigated using the MERRA-2 dataset. Nearly 2 weeks prior to the central date (lag 5 0), at which the zonal-mean zonal wind at 10 hPa and 608N first becomes negative, westward GW drag (GWD) is significantly enhanced in the lower mesosphere and stratosphere. At 5 days before lag 5 0, planetary waves (PWs) of zonal wavenumber 2 (ZWN-2) in the stratosphere are enhanced, while PWs of ZWN-1 are weakened, which are evident from the amplitudes of the PWs and their Eliassen-Palm flux divergence (EPD). To examine the relationship between PWs and GWs, a nonconservative GWD (NCGWD) source term of the linearized quasigeostrophic potential vorticity equation is considered. A ZWN-2 pattern of the NCGWD forcing is developed around z 5 55-60 km with a secondary peak around z 5 40 km just before the PWs of ZWN-2 in the stratosphere began to enhance. Asignificant positive correlation between theNCGWDforcing in the upper stratosphere and lower mesosphere (USLM; 0.3-0.1 hPa in the present data) and the PWs of ZWN-2 in the stratosphere (5-1 hPa) exists. This result demonstrates that the amplification of the PWs of ZWN-2 in the stratosphere before the onset of SSW09 is likely related to the generation of PWs by GWD in the USLM, which is revealed by the enhanced downward-propagating PWs of ZWN-2 into the stratosphere from abo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mountain ranges are regional features on Earth, as are the regions of mountain-wave drag (MWD) exerted by dissipating atmospheric gravity waves generated by flow over them. However, these regional drags have significant global- or zonal-mean impacts on Earth's atmospheric general circulation (e.g., slowing of the polar night jet). The objective of this work is to understand the regional to global evolution of these impacts. The approach is to track the evolution of MWD-generated potential vorticity (PV) over the winter using the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM). Within an ensemble of winter-long runs with and without MWD, lower-stratospheric PV is generated over mountains and advected downstream, generating large-scale PV banners. These PV banners are diffused but survive this diffusion and are reinforced over downstream mountain ranges, accumulating into zonal-mean or global features within WACCM. A simple 2D model representing sources, advection, and diffusion of "passive PV" recreates the salient features in the WACCM results, suggesting the winter-long evolution of MWD-generated PV can be crudely understood in terms of horizontal advection and diffusion within a global vortex. In the Northern Hemisphere, cyclonic, equatorward PV banners accumulate zonally into a single zonally symmetric positive PV anomaly. The anticyclonic, poleward PV banners also accumulate into a zonally symmetric feature, but then diffuse over the North Pole into a negative PV polar cap. In the Southern Hemisphere, the same processes are at work, though the different geographic configuration of mountain ranges leads to different patterns of impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulations with the Community Earth System Model, version 2, using the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model version 6 [CESM2(WACCM6)] configuration, show evidence of dynamical coupling from the high latitudes of the winter middle atmosphere to the tropics and the middle and high latitudes of the summer hemisphere. Analysis of monthly and daily output covering 195 simulation years indicates that the response in the summer middle and high latitudes has a weak overall magnitude of a few kelvins or less in temperature but has a repeatable pattern whose structure and phase agree with observational studies. Lag correlation indicates that perturbations in wave activity in the winter stratosphere, as quantified by Eliassen–Palm (EP) flux divergence, are accompanied by perturbations in the transformed Eulerian-mean meridional wind extending into the summer hemisphere. There is not an appreciable correlation with momentum forcing in the summer hemisphere by either resolved waves or parameterized gravity waves. The rapid circulation response and the lack of a wave response in the summer hemisphere suggest that the interhemispheric coupling that is simulated in WACCM6 in both the stratosphere and the mesosphere owes its existence to a circulation that develops to restore balance to the zonally averaged state of the atmosphere. This is an alternative explanation for the coupling from the winter stratosphere to the summer mesosphere; previous studies have assumed a necessary role for wave activity in the summer hemisphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contributions of convective gravity waves (CGWs) and orographic gravity waves (OGWs) to the Brewer–Dobson circulation (BDC) are examined and compared to those from resolved waves. OGW drag (OGWD) is provided by NCEP Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR), while CGW drag (CGWD) is obtained from an offline calculation of a physically based CGW parameterization with convective heating and background data provided by CFSR. CGWD contributes to the shallow branch of the BDC regardless of the season, while OGWD contributes to both the shallow and deep branches except for the summertime, when OGWs hardly propagate into the stratosphere. At 70 hPa, the annual-mean tropical upward mass fluxes from Eliassen–Palm flux divergence (EPD), OGWD, and CGWD are 68%, 7%, and 4% of the total mass flux, respectively. The tropical upward mass flux at 70 hPa shows an increasing trend during the time period from 1979 to 1998, with 28%, 18%, and 6% of the trend driven by EPD, OGWD, and CGWD, respectively. The width of the turnaround latitudes tends to narrow for the streamfunctions induced by OGWD and CGWD but tends to widen for that induced by EPD. The contributions of GWD from MERRA (MERRA-2) to the climatology and long-term trend of the BDC are 7% (7%) and 13% (4%), respectively, somewhat smaller than the contributions of CGWD plus OGWD, which are estimated from CFSR to be 12% and 20%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Specified dynamics (SD) schemes relax the circulation in climate models toward a reference meteorology to simulate historical variability. These simulations are widely used to isolate the dynamical contributions to variability and trends in trace gas species. However, it is not clear if trends in the stratospheric overturning circulation are properly reproduced by SD schemes. This study assesses numerous SD schemes and modeling choices in the Community Earth System Model (CESM) Whole Atmosphere Chemistry Climate Model (WACCM) to determine a set of best practices for reproducing interannual variability and trends in tropical stratospheric upwelling estimated by reanalyses. Nudging toward the reanalysis meteorology as is typically done in SD simulations does not accurately reproduce lower-stratospheric upwelling trends present in the underlying reanalysis. In contrast, nudging to anomalies from the climatological winds or anomalies from the zonal-mean winds and temperatures better reproduces trends in lower-stratospheric upwelling, possibly because these schemes do not disrupt WACCM's climatology. None of the schemes substantially alter the structure of upwelling trends – instead, they make the trends more or less AMIP-like. An SD scheme's performance in simulating the acceleration of the shallow branch of the mean meridional circulation from 1980 to 2017 hinges on its ability to simulate the downward shift of subtropical lower-stratospheric wave momentum forcing. Key to this is not nudging the zonal-mean temperature field. Gravity wave momentum forcing, which drives a substantial fraction of the upwelling in WACCM, cannot be constrained by nudging and presents an upper limit on the performance of these schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Specified dynamics (SD) schemes relax the circulation in climate models toward a reference meteorology to simulate historical variability. These simulations are widely used to isolate the dynamical contributions to variability and trends in trace gas species. However, it is not clear if trends in the stratospheric overturning circulation are properly reproduced by SD schemes. This study assesses numerous SD schemes and modeling choices in the Community Earth System Model (CESM) Whole Atmosphere Chemistry Climate Model (WACCM) to determine a set of best practices for reproducing interannual variability and trends in tropical stratospheric upwelling estimated by reanalyses. Nudging toward the reanalysis meteorology as is typically done in SD simulations expectedly changes the model's mean upwelling compared to its free-running state, but does not accurately reproduce upwelling trends present in the underlying reanalysis. In contrast, nudging to anomalies from the climatological winds or from the zonal mean winds and temperatures preserves WACCM's climatology and better reproduces trends in stratospheric upwelling. An SD scheme's performance in simulating the acceleration of the shallow branch of the mean meridional circulation from 1980-2017 hinges on its ability to simulate the downward shift of subtropical lower stratospheric wave momentum forcing. Key to this is not nudging the zonal-mean temperature field. Gravity wave momentum forcing, which drives a substantial fraction of the upwelling in WACCM, cannot be constrained by nudging and presents an upper-limit on the performance of these schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares two different approaches for the efficient modeling of subgrid-scale inertia–gravity waves in a rotating compressible atmosphere. The first approach, denoted as the pseudomomentum scheme, exploits the fact that in a Lagrangian-mean reference frame the response of a large-scale flow can only be due to forcing momentum. Present-day gravity wave parameterizations follow this route. They do so, however, in an Eulerian-mean formulation. Transformation to that reference frame leads, under certain assumptions, to pseudomomentum-flux convergence by which the momentum is to be forced. It can be shown that this approach is justified if the large-scale flow is in geostrophic and hydrostatic balance. Otherwise, elastic and thermal effects might be lost. In the second approach, called the direct scheme and not relying on such assumptions, the large-scale flow is forced both in the momentum equation, by anelastic momentum-flux convergence and an additional elastic term, and in the entropy equation, via entropy-flux convergence. A budget analysis based on one-dimensional wave packets suggests that the comparison between the abovementioned two schemes should be sensitive to the following two parameters: 1) the intrinsic frequency and 2) the wave packet scale. The smaller the intrinsic frequency is, the greater their differences are. More importantly, with high-resolution wave-resolving simulations as a reference, this study shows conclusive evidence that the direct scheme is more reliable than the pseudomomentum scheme, regardless of whether one-dimensional or two-dimensional wave packets are considered. In addition, sensitivity experiments are performed to further investigate the relative importance of each term in the direct scheme, as well as the wave–mean flow interactions during the wave propagation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characteristics of small-scale convective gravity waves (CGWs; horizontal wavelengths <100 km) and their contributions to the large-scale flow in the stratosphere, including the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), are investigated using an offline calculation of a source-dependent, physically based CGW parameterization with global reanalysis data from 1979 to 2010. The CGW momentum flux (CGWMF) and CGW drag (CGWD) are calculated from the cloud top (source level) to the upper stratosphere using a Lindzen-type wave propagation scheme. The 32-yr-mean CGWD exhibits large magnitudes in the tropical upper stratosphere and near the stratospheric polar night jet (~60°). The maximum positive drag is 0.1 (1.5) m s−1 day−1, and the maximum negative drag is −0.9 (−0.7) m s−1 day−1 in January (July) between 3 and 1 hPa. In the tropics, the momentum forcing by CGWs at 30 hPa associated with the QBO in the westerly shear zone is 3.5–6 m s−1 month−1, which is smaller than that by Kelvin waves, while that by CGWs in the easterly shear zone (3.1–6 m s−1 month−1) is greater than that by any other equatorial planetary waves or inertio-gravity waves (inertio-GWs). Composite analyses of the easterly QBO (EQBO) and westerly QBO (WQBO) phases reveal that the zonal CGWMF is concentrated near 10°N and that the negative (positive) CGWD extends latitudinally to ±20° (±10°) at 30 hPa. The strongest (weakest) negative CGWD is in March–May (September–November) during the EQBO, and the strongest (weakest) positive CGWD is in June–August (March–May) during the WQBO. The CGWMF and CGWD are generally stronger during El Niño than during La Niña in the equatorial region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A momentum budget is examined in the stratosphere, mesosphere, and lower thermosphere using simulation data over ~11 years from a whole-atmosphere model in terms of the respective contributions of gravity waves (GWs), Rossby waves (RWs), and tides. The GW forcing is dominant in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT), as indicated in previous studies. However, RWs also cause strong westward forcing, described by Eliassen–Palm flux divergence (EPFD), in all seasons in the MLT and in the winter stratosphere. Despite the relatively coarse model resolution, resolved GWs with large amplitudes appear in the MLT. The EPFD associated with the resolved GWs is eastward (westward) in the summer (winter) hemisphere, similar to the parameterized GW forcing. A pair of positive and negative EPFDs are associated with the RWs and GWs in the MLT. These results suggest that the RWs and resolved GWs are generated in situ in the MLT. Previous studies suggested that a possible mechanism of RW generation in the MLT is the barotropic/baroclinic instability. This study revisits this possibility and examines causes of the instability from a potential vorticity (PV) viewpoint. The instability condition is characterized as the PV maximum at middle latitudes on an isentropic surface. Positive EPFD for RWs is distributed slightly poleward of the PV maximum. Because the EPFD equals the PV flux, this feature indicates that the RW radiation acts to reduce the PV maximum. The PV maximum is climatologically maintained in both the winter and summer mesospheres, which is caused by parameterized GW forcing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The general circulation of the middle atmosphere, particularly of the mesosphere, is strongly dependent on the forcing arising from gravity wave processes. Their sources in the troposphere are both orographic and nonorographic, the latter being strongly intermittent. In climate models, the effects of gravity waves need to be parameterized, often assuming that their properties are constant. In this work we focus on the changes of the middle atmosphere due to the introduction of intermittency in a parameterization of nonorographic gravity waves, using a stochastic version of the Hines scheme. The stochastic approach is tailored to the diagnosed sensitivity of the model to this forcing, and peculiar changes emerge even if a relatively small amount of intermittency is prescribed. We analyze in detail the changes of the stratospheric dynamics in the tropical region and the global circulation of the middle atmosphere, when the stochastic parameterization is employed in place of the deterministic one. The mean state and variability of the model, realistic also in the default version, are preserved when stochasticity is added. Significant changes are observed in the mesosphere due to an enhanced poleward transport, leading to warming in the winter season. While there are some improvements of the mean state, the interannual variability is not significantly affected in the extratropics. The impacts on the simulated equatorial stratosphere are evident, as the stochasticity reduces the overall period of the quasi‐biennial oscillation but also leads to a net reduction of the variability between cycles. Plain Language Summary: Present‐day climate models are not able to simulate small‐scale phenomena, which are represented by means of simplified descriptions. Among these processes, atmospheric gravity waves are important for the upper atmosphere, as they influence its structure, interacting with the mean flow. These small waves are often associated to convection, but their intermittent nature is not always present in climate models. Here we describe how this property can be included in the representation of gravity waves and which are the effects on the simulated upper atmosphere. Key Points: Description of a stochastic modification of a spectral nonorographic gravity wave parameterization in a climate modelThe mean state of the upper stratosphere and mesosphere is modified by a stronger residual meridional circulation with the stochastic schemeThe properties of the quasi-biennial oscillation change under a stochastic forcing, with a shorter period and reduced variability [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The impact of gravity wave drag on the Antarctic sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) in 2002 is examined through a mechanistic middle atmosphere model combined with a variational data assimilation system. Significant differences in the SSW representation are found between a model integration that uses reference gravity wave parameters and one that uses parameters estimated using data assimilation. Upon identical wave forcings at 100 hPa, the vortex breakdown may arise as either a vortex splitting event or a displacement vortex event depending on gravity wave parameters. A local enhancement of Rossby waves is found in the integration with estimated parameters, leading to a split SSW. The changes in the vortex breakdown are associated with changes in the vortex geometry caused entirely by modifying the gravity wave parameters. Gravity wave drag proved to play an instrumental role in preconditioning the stratosphere near a resonant excitation point that triggers the split SSW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of parameterized nonorographic gravity wave drag (NOGWD) and its seasonal interaction with the resolved wave drag in the stratosphere has been extensively studied in low-resolution (coarser than 1.9° × 2.5°) climate models but is comparatively unexplored in higher-resolution models. Using the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Integrated Forecast System at 0.7° × 0.7° resolution, the wave drivers of the Brewer–Dobson circulation are diagnosed and the circulation sensitivity to the NOGW launch flux is explored. NOGWs are found to account for nearly 20% of the lower-stratospheric Southern Hemisphere (SH) polar cap downwelling and for less than 10% of the lower-stratospheric tropical upwelling and Northern Hemisphere (NH) polar cap downwelling. Despite these relatively small numbers, there are complex interactions between NOGWD and resolved wave drag, in both polar regions. Seasonal cycle analysis reveals a temporal offset in the resolved and parameterized wave interaction: the NOGWD response to altered source fluxes is largest in midwinter, while the resolved wave response is largest in the late winter and spring. This temporal offset is especially prominent in the SH. The impact of NOGWD on sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) life cycles and the final warming date in the SH is also investigated. An increase in NOGWD leads to an increase in SSW frequency, reduction in amplitude and persistence, and an earlier recovery of the stratopause following an SSW event. The SH final warming date is also brought forward when NOGWD is increased. Thus, NOGWD is still found to be a very important parameterization for stratospheric dynamics even in a high-resolution atmospheric model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parameterization schemes of atmospheric normal modes (NMs) and orographic gravity waves (OGWs) have been implemented into the mechanistic Middle and Upper Atmosphere Model (MUAM) simulating atmospheric general circulation. Based on the 12-members ensemble of runs with the MUAM, a composite of the stratospheric warming (SW) has been constructed using the UK Met Office data as the lower boundary conditions. The simulation results show that OGW amplitudes increase at altitudes above 30 km in the Northern Hemisphere after the SW event. At altitudes of about 50 km, OGWs have largest amplitudes over North American and European mountain systems before and during the composite SW, and over Himalayas after the SW. Simulations demonstrate substantial (up to 50–70%) variations of amplitudes of stationary planetary waves (PWs) during and after the SW in the mesosphere-lower thermosphere of the Northern Hemisphere. Westward travelling NMs have amplitude maxima not only in the Northern, but also in the Southern Hemisphere, where these modes have waveguides in the middle and upper atmosphere. Simulated variations of PW and NM amplitudes correspond to changes in the mean zonal wind, EP-fluxes and wave refractive index at different phases of the composite SW events. Inclusion of the parameterization of OGW effects leads to decreases in amplitudes (up to 15%) of almost all SPWs before and after the SW event and their increase (up to 40–60%) after the SW in the stratosphere and mesosphere at middle and high northern latitudes. It is suggested that observed changes in NM amplitudes in the Southern Hemisphere during SW could be caused by divergence of increased southward EP-flux. This EP-flux increases due to OGW drag before SW and extends into the Southern Hemisphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between gravity wave momentum fluxes and local wind speed is investigated for oceanic regions at high southern latitudes during austral spring. The motivation is to better describe the gravity wave field by identifying a simple relationship between gravity waves and the large-scale flow. The tools used to describe the gravity waves are probability density functions of the gravity wave momentum fluxes. Three independent datasets covering high latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere springtime are analyzed: simulations with a mesoscale model, analyses from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, and observations from superpressure balloons of the Concordiasi campaign in 2010. A remarkably robust relation is found, with stronger momentum fluxes much more likely in regions of strong winds. The tails of the probability density functions are well described as lognormal. The median momentum flux increases linearly with background wind speed: for winds stronger than 50 ms-1, the median gravity wave momentum fluxes are about 4 times larger than for winds weaker than 10 ms-1. From model output, this relation is found to be relevant from the tropopause to the midstratosphere at least. The flux dependence on wind speed shows a somewhat steeper slope at higher altitude. Several different processes contribute to this relation, involving both the distribution of sources and the effects of propagation and filtering. It is argued that the location of tropospheric sources is the main contributor in the upper troposphere and lowermost stratosphere and that lateral propagation into regions of strong winds becomes increasingly important above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using 8 years (May 2006 to March 2014) of high resolution and high accuracy GPS radiosonde observations available from a tropical station Gadanki (13.5°N, 79.2°E), India, we have investigated the climatology of gravity wave energy and zonal momentum fluxes in the lower stratosphere. We also obtained best fit spectrum model for the gravity waves (GWs) for this tropical station. In general, strong annual variation in the energy and momentum flux with maximum during Indian summer monsoon is observed in the lower stratospheric region (18–25 km). By considering different source spectra, we have applied Gravitywave Regional or Global RAy Tracer (GROGRAT) model run on monthly basis using the source spectrum values at different altitudes on the ERA-Interim background fields to obtain the kinetic energy and zonal momentum fluxes for each of the spectra considered. These simulated fluxes are compared with the observed fluxes to arrive at the best fit spectrum model. It is found that the spectrum which represents the convection transient mountain mechanism that is purely anti-symmetric and anisotropic in nature is the best fit model for Gadanki location. This information would be useful in parameterization of the GWs in numerical models over Indian region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction between locally monochromatic finite-amplitude mesoscale waves, their nonlinearly induced higher harmonics, and a synoptic-scale flow is reconsidered, both in the tropospheric regime of weak stratification and in the stratospheric regime of moderately strong stratification. A review of the basic assumptions of quasi-geostrophic theory on an f-plane yields all synoptic scales in terms of a minimal number of natural variables, i.e. two out of the speed of sound, gravitational acceleration and Coriolis parameter. The wave scaling is defined so that all spatial and temporal scales are shorter by one order in the Rossby number, and by assuming their buoyancy field to be close to static instability. WKB theory is applied, with the Rossby number as scale separation parameter, combined with a systematic Rossby-number expansion of all fields. Classic results for synoptic-scale-flow balances and inertia-gravity-wave (IGW) dynamics are recovered. These are supplemented by explicit expressions for the interaction between mesoscale geostrophic modes (GMs), a possibly somewhat overlooked agent of horizontal coupling in the atmosphere, and the synoptic-scale flow. It is shown that IGW higher harmonics are slaved to the basic IGW, and that their amplitude is one order of magnitude smaller than the basic-wave amplitude. GM higher harmonics are not that weak and they are in intense nonlinear interaction between themselves and the basic GM. Compressible dynamics plays a significant role in the stratospheric stratification regime, where anelastic theory would yield insufficient results. Supplementing classic derivations, it is moreover shown that, in the absence of mesoscale waves, quasi-geostrophic theory holds also in the stratospheric stratification regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vertical propagation and attenuation of mountain waves launched by New Zealand terrain during the Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE) field campaign are investigated. New Zealand mountain waves were frequently attenuated in a lower-stratospheric weak wind layer between z = 15 and 25 km. This layer is termed a 'valve layer,' as conditions within this layer (primarily minimum wind speed) control mountain wave momentum flux through it, analogous to a valve controlling mass flux through a pipe. This valve layer is a climatological feature in the wintertime midlatitude lower stratosphere above the subtropical jet. Mountain wave dynamics within this valve layer are studied using realistic Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model simulations that were extensively validated against research aircraft, radiosonde, and satellite observations. Locally, wave attenuation is horizontally and vertically inhomogeneous, evidenced by numerous regions with wave-induced low Richardson numbers and potential vorticity generation. WRF-simulated gravity wave drag (GWD) is peaked in the valve layer, and momentum flux transmitted through this layer is well approximated by a cubic function of minimum ambient wind speed within it, consistent with linear saturation theory. Valve-layer GWD within the well-validated WRF simulations was 3-6 times larger than that parameterized within MERRA. Previous research suggests increasing parameterized orographic GWD (performed in MERRA2) decreases the stratospheric polar vortex strength by altering planetary wave propagation and drag. The results reported here suggest carefully increasing orographic GWD is warranted, which may help to ameliorate the common cold-pole problem in chemistry-climate models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gravity wave (GW) parameterizations control the mean state and variability of the middle atmosphere in present-day climate models. The most recent parameterizations relate the GWs to their nonorographic sources (fronts and convection), which impacts the annual cycle of the GW drag, and makes the GWs respond to the changing climate. These issues are addressed using the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique Zoom (LMDz) climate model, showing first a climatology of the middle atmosphere in the presence of nonorographic GW sources. The model performance is comparable with that documented in earlier model versions, illustrating that there are no major difficulties in including nonorographic GW sources in models. A twin experiment where the parameterization of GWs has no link with the nonorographic sources is also performed. Provided that in the twin experiment the launched GW stress is very intermittent, its climatology compares reasonably well with the experiment with sources. This illustrates that GW intermittency is a key factor in GW dynamics, but also that the dynamical filtering of the waves by the background flow strongly modulates the significance of the sources. Some impacts of having GW sources on the annual cycle of the zonal mean circulation of the middle atmosphere are nevertheless evident. In a changing climate, the impact of introducing GW sources also seems to be substantially mitigated by the dynamical filtering. The experiments and diagnostics are nevertheless limited in time and to the averaged climatology, respectively, calling for longer tests to measure the impacts on the atmospheric low frequency variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure, dynamics, and ozone signal of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) produced by the 35-yr NASA Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2), are examined based on monthly mean output. Along with the analysis of the QBO in assimilation winds and ozone, the QBO forcings created by assimilated observations, dynamics, parameterized gravity wave drag (GWD), and ozone chemistry parameterization are examined and compared with the original MERRA system. Results show that MERRA-2 produces a realistic QBO in the zonal winds, mean meridional circulation, and ozone over the 1980-2015 time period. In particular, the MERRA-2 zonal winds show improved representation of the QBO 50-hPa westerly phase amplitude at Singapore when compared to MERRA. The use of limb ozone observations creates improved vertical structure and realistic downward propagation of the ozone QBO signal during times when the MLS ozone limb observations are available (from October 2004 to present). The increased equatorial GWD in MERRA-2 has reduced the zonal wind data analysis contribution compared to MERRA so that the QBO mean meridional circulation can be expected to be more physically forced and therefore more physically consistent. This can be important for applications in which MERRA-2 winds are used to drive transport experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) of tropical stratospheric zonal winds is simulated in an atmospheric general circulation model and its sensitivity to model parameters is explored. Vertical resolution in the lower tropical stratosphere finer than ≈1 km and sufficiently strong forcing by parameterized nonorographic gravity wave drag are both required for the model to exhibit a QBO-like oscillation. Coarser vertical resolution yields oscillations that are seasonally synchronized and driven mainly by gravity wave drag. As vertical resolution increases, wave forcing in the tropical lower stratosphere increases and seasonal synchronization is disrupted, allowing quasi-biennial periodicity to emerge. Seasonal synchronization could result from the form of wave dissipation assumed in the gravity wave parameterization, which allows downward influence by semiannual oscillation (SAO) winds, whereas dissipation of resolved waves is consistent with radiative damping and no downward influence. Parameterized wave drag is nevertheless required to generate a realistic QBO, effectively acting to amplify the relatively weaker mean-flow forcing by resolved waves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of a high-resolution, convection-permitting simulation of the tropical Indian Ocean has revealed empirical relationships between precipitation and gravity wave vertical momentum flux on grid scales typical of earth system models. Hence, the authors take a rough functional form, whereby the wave flux source spectrum has an amplitude proportional to the square root of total precipitation, to represent gravity wave source strengths in the Met Office global model's spectral nonorographic scheme. Key advantages of the new source are simplicity and responsiveness to changes in convection processes without dependence upon model-specific details of their representation. Thus, the new source scheme is potentially a straightforward adaptation for a class of spectral gravity wave schemes widely used for current state-of-the-art earth system models. Against an invariant source, the new parameterized source generates launch-level flux amplitudes with greater spatial and temporal variability, producing probability density functions for absolute momentum flux over the ocean that have extended tails of large-amplitude, low-occurrence events. Such distributions appear more realistic in comparison with reported balloon observations. Source intermittency at the launch level affects mean fluxes at higher levels in two ways: directly, as a result of upward propagation of the new source variation, and indirectly, through changes in filtering characteristics that arise from intermittency. Initial assessment of the new scheme in the Met Office global model indicates an improved representation of the quasi-biennial oscillation and sensitivity that offers potential for further impact in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of planetary wave drag and gravity wave drag in the breakdown of the stratospheric polar vortex and its associated final warming in the Southern Hemisphere is examined using reanalyses from MERRA and a middle-atmosphere dynamical model. The focus of this work is on identifying the causes of the delay in the final breakdown of the stratospheric polar vortex found in current general circulation models. Sensitivity experiments were conducted by changing the launched momentum flux in the gravity wave drag parameterization. Increasing the launched momentum flux produces a delay of the final warming date with respect to the control integration of more than 2 weeks. The sensitivity experiments show significant interactions between planetary waves and unresolved gravity waves. The increase of gravity wave drag in the model is compensated by a strong decrease of Eliassen-Palm flux divergence (i.e., planetary wave drag). This concomitant decrease of planetary wave drag is at least partially responsible for the delay of the final warming in the model. Experiments that change the resolved planetary wave activity entering the stratosphere through artificially changing the bottom boundary flux of the model also show an interaction mechanism. Gravity wave drag responds via critical-level filtering to planetary wave drag perturbations by partially compensating them. Therefore, there is a feedback cycle that leads to a partial compensation between gravity wave and planetary wave drag. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Convectively triggered waves are the main driver of the tropical stratospheric circulation. In atmospheric models, the model's resolution limits the length of the simulated wave spectrum. In this study, the authors compare the tropical tropospheric wave sources, their projection on the wave field in the lower stratosphere, and the circumstances of their upward propagation in the atmospheric model ECHAM6 with three spectral truncations of T63, T127, and T255. The model internally generates the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), which dominates the variability in the tropical stratosphere. This analysis focuses on two opposite phases of the QBO to account for the influence of the background wind field on the wave filtering. It is shown that, compared to the high-resolution model versions, the T63 version has less convective variability and less wave momentum in the lower stratosphere at wavenumbers larger than 20, well below the version's truncation limit. In the low-resolution version, the upward propagation of the waves is further hindered by the highly active (relative to the high-resolution versions) horizontal diffusion scheme. However, even in the T255 version of ECHAM6, the convective variability is too small compared to TRMM observations at periods shorter than 2 days and wavelengths shorter than 1000 km. Hence, to model a realistic tropical wave activity, the convective parameterization of the model has to improve to increase the day-to-day precipitation variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase of spatial resolution allows the ECMWF operational model to explicitly resolve a significant portion of the atmospheric gravity wave (GW) field, but the realism of the simulated GW field in the ECMWF analyses still needs to be precisely evaluated. Here the authors use data collected during the Concordiasi stratospheric balloon campaign to assess the representation of GWs in the ECMWF analyses over Antarctica and the Southern Ocean in spring 2010. The authors first compare the balloonborne GW momentum fluxes with those in ECMWF analyses throughout the campaign and find a correct agreement of the geographical and seasonal patterns. However, the authors also note that ECMWF analyses generally underestimate the balloon fluxes by a factor of 5, which may be essentially due to the spatial truncation of the ECMWF model. Intermittency of wave activity in the analyses and observations are found comparable. These results are confirmed on two case studies dealing with orographic and nonorographic waves, which thus supports that the ECMWF analyses can be used to study the geographical and seasonal distribution of GW momentum fluxes. The authors then used both datasets to provide insights on the missing GW drag at 60°S in general circulation models in the Southern Hemisphere spring. These datasets suggest that a significant part of the missing drag may be associated with nonorographic GWs generated by weather systems above the Southern Ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent satellite determinations of global distributions of absolute gravity wave (GW) momentum fluxes in the lower stratosphere show maxima over the summer subtropical continents and little evidence of GW momentum fluxes associated with the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). This seems to be at odds with parameterizations for GW momentum fluxes, where the source is a function of latent heating rates, which are largest in the region of the ITCZ in terms of monthly averages. The authors have examined global distributions of atmospheric latent heating, cloud-top-pressure altitudes, and lower-stratosphere absolute GW momentum fluxes and have found that monthly averages of the lower-stratosphere GW momentum fluxes more closely resemble the monthly mean cloud-top altitudes rather than the monthly mean rates of latent heating. These regions of highest cloud-top altitudes occur when rates of latent heating are largest on the time scale of cloud growth. This, plus previously published studies, suggests that convective sources for stratospheric GW momentum fluxes, being a function of the rate of latent heating, will require either a climate model to correctly model this rate of latent heating or some ad hoc adjustments to account for shortcomings in a climate model's land-sea differences in convective latent heating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper demonstrates that quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO)-like oscillations can be simulated in an ensemble of dry GCM dynamical cores that are driven by a simple Held-Suarez temperature relaxation and low-level Rayleigh friction. The tropical stratospheric circulations of four dynamical cores, which are options in NCAR's Community Atmosphere Model, version 5 (CAM5), are intercompared. These are the semi-Lagrangian (SLD) and Eulerian (EUL) spectral transform, finite-volume (FV), and spectral element (SE) dynamical cores. The paper investigates how the model design choices impact the wave generation, propagation, and dissipation mechanisms in the equatorial region. SLD, EUL, and SE develop spontaneous QBO-like oscillations in the upper equatorial stratosphere, whereas FV does not sustain the oscillation. Transformed Eulerian-mean (TEM) analyses reveal that resolved waves are the dominant drivers of the QBOs. However, the Eliassen-Palm flux divergence is strongly counteracted by the TEM momentum budget residual, which represents the forcing by diffusion and thermal damping. Interestingly, a reversed Brewer-Dobson circulation accelerates the downward propagation of the SLD's QBO, whereas the EUL's and SE's QBOs are slowed by a mean ascent. Waves are abundant in the SLD's, EUL's, and SE's tropical atmosphere despite the absence of moist convection as a typical wave trigger. Dynamic instabilities are suggested as a wave-triggering mechanism in the troposphere and wave-dissipation process in the stratosphere. In particular, there are indications that the increased occurrences of strongly negative instability indicators in SLD, EUL, and SE are related to more vigorous wave activities and higher magnitudes of the resolved wave forcing in comparison to FV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many operational numerical weather prediction (NWP) systems now extend into the stratosphere and are beginning to be used to generate forecasts beyond conventional 5-10-day periods out to seasonal time scales. Past observational and modeling studies have shown that the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) in equatorial stratospheric winds can play an important role in stratosphere-troposphere dynamical coupling over these longer time scales. Consequently, stratosphere-resolving NWP models used to generate seasonal forecasts should contain the necessary physics to generate and maintain the QBO. This study describes several key modifications that were necessary to produce a QBO in a high-altitude NWP model, which include an increase in model vertical resolution, implementation of a computationally efficient stochastic gravity wave drag parameterization, and reductions in the amount of horizontal and vertical diffusion in the stratosphere. Results from a 10-yr free-running model simulation with these modifications show that the westerly QBO phase produces lower temperatures and stronger westerly flow in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) winter polar stratosphere compared to the easterly QBO phase. Ensembles of 120-day simulations over the December-March period show that these modifications replace persistent easterly flow in the equatorial lower stratosphere with a more realistic transition from easterly to westerly flow. The resulting changes in planetary wave propagation produce a statistically significant response in the dynamics of the NH extratropical stratosphere consistent with the Holton-Tan relationship. The westerly shift in equatorial winds also produces a significant response in the NH extratropical troposphere, where the sea level pressure differences in winter resemble the positive phase of the northern annular mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The previously reported observation of anomalous eastward gravity wave forcing at mesopause heights around the onset of the January 2013 major sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) over Trondheim, Norway (63° N, 10° E), is placed in a global perspective using Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) temperature observations from the Aura satellite. It is shown that this anomalous forcing results in a clear cooling over Trondheim about 10 km below mesopause heights. Conversely, near the mesopause itself, where the gravity wave forcing was measured, observations with meteor radar, OH airglow and MLS show no distinct cooling. Polar cap zonal mean temperatures show a similar vertical profile. Longitudinal variability in the high northern-latitude mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) is characterized by a quasi-stationary wave-1 structure, which reverses phase at altitudes below ~0.1 hPa. This wave-1 develops prior to the SSW onset, and starts to propagate westward at the SSW onset. The latitudinal pole-to-pole temperature structure associated with the major SSW shows a warming (cooling) in the winter stratosphere (mesosphere) which extends to about 40° N. In the stratosphere, a cooling extending over the equator and far into the summer hemisphere is observed, whereas in the mesosphere an equatorial warming is noted. In the Southern Hemisphere mesosphere, a warm anomaly overlaying a cold anomaly is present, which is shown to propagate downward in time. This observed structure is in accordance with the temperature perturbations predicted by the proposed interhemispheric coupling mechanism for cases of increased winter stratospheric planetary wave activity, of which major SSWs are an extreme case. These results provide observational evidence for the interhemispheric coupling mechanism, and for the wave-mean flow interaction believed to be responsible for the establishment of the anomalies in the summer hemisphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gravity waves are an important driver for the atmospheric circulation and have substantial impact on weather and climate. Satellite instruments offer excellent opportunities to study gravity waves on a global scale. This study focuses on observations from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) onboard the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Aqua satellite and the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) onboard the European MetOp satellites. The main aim of this study is an intercomparison of stratospheric gravity wave observations of both instruments. In particular, we analyzed AIRS and IASI 4.3 µm brightness temperature measurements, which directly relate to stratospheric temperature. Three case studies showed that AIRS and IASI provide a clear and consistent picture of the temporal development of individual gravity wave events. Statistical comparisons based on a 5-year period of measurements (2008-2012) showed similar spatial and temporal patterns of gravity wave activity. However, the statistical comparisons also revealed systematic differences of variances between AIRS and IASI that we attribute to the different spatial measurement characteristics of both instruments. We also found differences between day- and nighttime data that are partly due to the local time variations of the gravity wave sources. While AIRS has been used successfully in many previous gravity wave studies, IASI data are applied here for the first time for that purpose. Our study shows that gravity wave observations from different hyperspectral infrared sounders such as AIRS and IASI can be directly related to each other, if instrument-specific characteristics such as different noise levels and spatial resolution and sampling are carefully considered. The ability to combine observations from different satellites provides an opportunity to create a long-term record, which is an exciting prospect for future climatological studies of stratospheric gravity wave activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reanalysis data are used to evaluate the evolution of polar vortex geometry, planetary wave drag, and gravity wave drag prior to split versus displacement sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs). A composite analysis that extends upward to the lower mesosphere reveals that split SSWs are characterized by a transition from a wide, funnel-shaped vortex that is anomalously strong to a vortex that is constrained about the pole and has little vertical tilt. In contrast, displacement SSWs are characterized by a wide, funnel-shaped vortex that is anomalously weak throughout the prewarming period. Moreover, during split SSWs, gravity wave drag is enhanced in the polar night jet, while planetary wave drag is enhanced within the extratropical surf zone. During displacement SSWs, gravity wave drag is anomalously weak throughout the extratropical stratosphere. Using the composite analysis as a guide, a case study of the 2009 SSW is conducted in order to evaluate the roles of planetary and gravity waves for preconditioning the polar vortex in terms of two SSW-triggering scenarios: anomalous planetary wave forcing from the troposphere and resonance due to either internal or external Rossby waves. The results support the view that split SSWs are caused by resonance rather than anomalously large wave forcing. Given these findings, it is suggested that vortex preconditioning, which is traditionally defined in terms of vortex geometries that increase poleward wave focusing, may be better described by wave events (planetary and/or gravity) that 'tune' the geometry of the vortex toward its resonant excitation points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have revealed strong interactions between resolved Rossby wave and parameterized gravity wave driving in stratosphere-resolving atmospheric models. Perturbations to the parameterized wave driving are often compensated by opposite changes in the resolved wave driving, leading to ambiguity in the relative roles of these waves in driving the Brewer-Dobson circulation. Building on previous work, this study identifies three mechanisms for these interactions and explores them in an idealized atmospheric model. The three mechanisms are associated with a stability constraint, a potential vorticity mixing constraint, and a nonlocal interaction driven by modifications to the refractive index of planetary wave propagation. While the first mechanism is likely for strong-amplitude and meridionally narrow parameterized torques, the second is most likely for parameterized torques applied inside the winter-hemisphere surf-zone region, a key breaking region for planetary waves. The third mechanism, on the other hand, is most relevant for parameterized torques just outside the surf zone. It is likely for multiple mechanisms to act in concert, and it is largely a matter of the torques' location and the interaction time scale that determines the dominant mechanism. In light of these interactions, the conventional paradigm for separating the relative roles of Rossby and gravity wave driving by downward control is critiqued. A modified approach is suggested, one that explicitly considers the impact of wave driving on the potential vorticity of the stratosphere. While this approach blurs the roles of Rossby and gravity waves, it provides more intuition into how perturbations to each component impact the circulation as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following recent findings, the interaction between resolved (Rossby) wave drag and parameterized orographic gravity wave drag (OGWD) is investigated, in terms of their driving of the Brewer-Dobson circulation (BDC), in a comprehensive climate model. To this end, the parameter that effectively determines the strength of OGWD in present-day and doubled CO2 simulations is varied. The authors focus on the Northern Hemisphere during winter when the largest response of the BDC to climate change is predicted to occur. It is found that increases in OGWD are to a remarkable degree compensated by a reduction in midlatitude resolved wave drag, thereby reducing the impact of changes in OGWD on the BDC. This compensation is also found for the response to climate change: changes in the OGWD contribution to the BDC response to climate change are compensated by opposite changes in the resolved wave drag contribution to the BDC response to climate change, thereby reducing the impact of changes in OGWD on the BDC response to climate change. By contrast, compensation does not occur at northern high latitudes, where resolved wave driving and the associated downwelling increase with increasing OGWD, both for the present-day climate and the response to climate change. These findings raise confidence in the credibility of climate model projections of the strengthened BDC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of moisture on inertia-gravity wave generation is assessed for an idealized unstable baroclinic wave using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) in a channel on the f plane. The evolution of these waves in a moist simulation is compared with a dry simulation. The centers of action for inertia-gravity wave activity are identified as the equatorward-moving upper-level front and the poleward-progressing upper-level jet-surface front system. Four stratospheric wave packets are found, which are significantly more intense in the moist simulation and have slightly higher frequency. They are characterized by their structure and position during the baroclinic wave life cycle and are related to forcing terms in jet, front, and convection systems. By exploring the time series of mass and energy, it is shown that the release of latent heat leads to a change in enthalpy, an increase in the eddy kinetic energy, and an intensification of the inertia-gravity wave energy. The ratio of the inertia-gravity wave energy to the eddy kinetic energy is estimated to be about 1/200 for the moist simulation, which is 3 times larger than that for the dry simulation. An empirical parameterization scheme for the inertia-gravity wave energy is proposed, based on the fast large-scale ageostrophic flow associated with the jet, front, and convection. The diagnosed stratospheric inertia-gravity wave energy is well captured by this parameterization in six WRF simulations with different moisture and resolutions. The approach used to construct the parameterization may serve as a starting point for state-dependent nonorographic gravity wave drag schemes in general circulation models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method is proposed to estimate three-dimensional (3D) material circulation driven by waves based on recently derived formulas by Kinoshita and Sato that are applicable to both Rossby waves and gravity waves. The residual-mean flow is divided into three, that is, balanced flow, unbalanced flow, and Stokes drift. The latter two are wave-induced components estimated from momentum flux divergence and heat flux divergence, respectively. The unbalanced mean flow is equivalent to the zonal-mean flow in the two-dimensional (2D) transformed Eulerian mean (TEM) system. Although these formulas were derived using the 'time mean,' the underlying assumption is the separation of spatial or temporal scales between the mean and wave fields. Thus, the formulas can be used for both transient and stationary waves. Considering that the average is inherently needed to remove an oscillatory component of unaveraged quadratic functions, the 3D wave activity flux and wave-induced residual-mean flow are estimated by an extended Hilbert transform. In this case, the scale of mean flow corresponds to the whole scale of the wave packet. Using simulation data from a gravity wave-resolving general circulation model, the 3D structure of the residual-mean circulation in the stratosphere and mesosphere is examined for January and July. The zonal-mean field of the estimated 3D circulation is consistent with the 2D circulation in the TEM system. An important result is that the residual-mean circulation is not zonally uniform in both the stratosphere and mesosphere. This is likely caused by longitudinally dependent wave sources and propagation characteristics. The contribution of planetary waves and gravity waves to these residual-mean flows is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perturbations to the orographic gravity wave parameterization scheme in an idealized general circulation model reveal a remarkable degree of compensation between the parameterized and the resolved wave driving: when the orographic gravity wave driving is changed, the resolved wave driving tends to change in the opposite direction, so there is little impact on the Brewer-Dobson circulation. Building upon earlier observations of such compensation, an analysis based on quasigeostrophic theory suggests that the compensation between the resolved and parameterized waves is inevitable when the stratosphere is driven toward instability by the parameterized gravity wave driving. This instability, however, is quite likely for perturbations of small meridional length scale in comparison with the Rossby radius of deformation. The insight from quasigeostrophic theory is confirmed in a systematic study with an idealized general circulation model and supported by analyses of comprehensive models. The compensation between resolved and unresolved waves suggests that the commonly used linear separation of the Brewer-Dobson circulation into components (i.e., resolved versus parameterized wave driving) may provide a potentially misleading interpretation of the role of different waves. It may also, in part, explain why comprehensive models tend to agree more on the total strength of the Brewer-Dobson circulation than on the flow associated with individual components. This is of particular relevance to diagnosed changes in the Brewer-Dobson circulation in climate scenario integrations as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using satellite observations together with a chemistry-climate model (CCM), the effect of the stratospheric semiannual oscillation (SAO) and quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) on the equatorial double peak in observed CH4 and NO2 is reexamined. It is concluded that the lower-equatorial Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) CH4 mixing ratio of the April double peak in 1993 and 1995 was associated with the prominent first cycle of the SAO westerlies, which causes local vertical downwelling in the upper equatorial stratosphere. The observational evidences imply that the strong westerlies of the first cycle of the stratospheric SAO in 1993 and 1995 were driven by enhanced lower-stratospheric gravity wave activity in the early parts of those years. The CCM simulations further verify that the gravity wave source strength has a large impact on the development and strength of the SAO westerlies. This result suggests that the equatorial long-lived tracer mixing ratio near the stratopause (which is associated with the strength of the SAO westerlies) was not only modulated by the QBO phase, but was also significantly influenced by interannual variation in the gravity waves. It is also found that the deeper equatorial trough of the double peak is unlikely to be always accompanied by the more prominent Northern Hemispheric lobe, and the Northern Hemispheric lobe of the double peak can be mainly attributed to subtropical upwelling. The altitude of greatest chemical destruction anomalies associated with the SAO and QBO is below the trough of the double peak, implying that the effect of the chemical process on the double peak is insignificant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study for the first time reports the global gravity wave activity in terms of their potential energy derived from TIMED/SABER observations right from the stratosphere to the mesosphere lower thermosphere (MLT) region. The potential energy profiles obtained from SABER temperature are validated by comparing them with ground based LIDAR observations over a low latitude site, Gadanki (13.5° N, 79.2° E). The stratospheric and mesospheric global maps of gravity wave energy showed pronounced maxima over high and polar latitudes of the winter hemisphere. The interannual variability of the stratospheric gravity wave activity exhibited prominent annual oscillation over mid-latitudes. The equatorial gravity wave activity exhibited quasi-biennial oscillation in the lower stratosphere and semi-annual oscillation in the upper stratosphere. The MLT region maps revealed summer hemispheric maxima over polar latitudes and secondary maxima over the equatorial region. The results are discussed in the light of present understanding of global gravity wave observations. The significance of the present study lies in emphasizing the importance of satellite measurements in elucidating gravity waves, which is envisaged to have profound impact on parameterizing these waves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gravity waves (GWs) produced by three-dimensional potential vorticity (PV) anomalies are examined under the assumption of constant vertical shear, constant stratification, and unbounded domain. As in the two-dimensional case analyzed in an earlier paper, the disturbance near the PV anomaly is well modeled by quasigeostrophic theory. At larger distances the nature of the disturbance changes across the two inertial layers that are located above and below the anomaly, and it takes the form of a vertically propagating GW beyond these. For a horizontally monochromatic PV anomaly of infinitesimal depth, the disturbance is described analytically using both an exact solution and a WKB approximation; the latter includes an exponentially small term that captures the change of the solution near the PV anomaly induced by the radiation boundary condition in the far field. The analytical results reveal a strong sensitivity of the emission to the Richardson number and to the orientation of the horizontal wavenumber: the absorptive properties of the inertial layers are such that the emission is maximized in the Northern Hemisphere for wavenumbers at negative angles to the shear. For localized PV anomalies, numerical computations give the temporal evolution of the GW field. Analytical and numerical results are also used to establish an explicit form for the Eliassen-Palm flux that could be used to parameterize GW sources in GCMs. The properties of the Eliassen-Palm flux vector imply that in a westerly shear, the GWs exert a drag in a southwest direction in the upper inertial layer, and in a northwest direction at the altitudes where the GWs dissipate aloft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]