Identification

Title

Momentum flux spectrum of convectively forced internal gravity waves and its application to gravity wave drag parameterization, Part II: Impacts in a GCM (WACCM)

Abstract

Impacts of a spectral parameterization of gravity wave drag (GWD) induced by cumulus convection (GWDC) in the NCAR Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM1b) are investigated. In the spectral GWDC parameterization, reference wave momentum flux spectrum is launched at cloud top and analytically calculated based on the physical properties of convection and the large-scale flow. The cloud-top wave momentum flux is strong mainly in the Tropics and midlatitude storm-track regions, and exhibits anisotropy and spatiotemporal variability. The anisotropy and variability are determined by the distributions and variations of convective activities, the moving speed of convection, and horizontal wind and stability in convection regions. Zonal-mean zonal GWDC has a maximum of 13-27 (37-50) m s⁻¹ day⁻¹ in the mesosphere in January (July). Impacts of GWDC on zonal wind appear mainly in the low to midlatitudes of the upper stratosphere and mesosphere. In these regions, biases of zonal wind with respect to observation are reduced more than 50% through the GWDC process. In contrast to zonal wind, impacts of GWDC on temperature occur mainly in the mid- to high latitudes. Through the analysis of forcing terms in the zonal wind and temperature equations, it is found that impacts of GWDC result from interaction among wave forcing terms (resolved wave forcing, parameterized background GWD, and GWDC) and meridional circulations induced by the wave forcing terms. With regard to tropical variability, when GWDC is included, the model produces the stratospheric semiannual oscillation with more realistic amplitude and structure and stronger interannual variabilities in the lower stratosphere. These enhanced variabilities are caused by resolved wave forcing and meridional circulations.

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document

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https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d70k28wq

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

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geoscientificInformation

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title

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publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

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publication

effective date

2006-07-01T00:00:00Z

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Copyright 2007 American Meteorological Society (AMS). Permission to use figures, tables, and brief excerpts from this work in scientific and educational works is hereby granted provided that the source is acknowledged. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be "fair use" under Section 107 or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law (17 USC, as revised by P.L. 94-553) does not require the Society's permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form on servers, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statements, requires written permission or license from the AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policies, available from the AMS at 617-227-2425 or amspubs@ametsoc.org. Permission to place a copy of this work on this server has been provided by the AMS. The AMS does not guarantee that the copy provided here is an accurate copy of the published work.

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None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata date

2025-07-17T17:05:24.728562

Metadata language

eng; USA