Open AccessDynamics of the middle atmosphere as simulated by the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model, version 3 (WACCM3)
Author(s) -
Richter Jadwiga H.,
Sassi Fabrizio,
Garcia Rolando R.,
Matthes Katja,
Fischer Chris A.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2007jd009269
Subject(s) - atmosphere (unit) , thermosphere , atmospheric model , climate model , atmospheric sciences , gravity wave , climatology , environmental science , atmospheric models , momentum (technical analysis) , mesosphere , meteorology , geology , stratosphere , climate change , physics , gravitational wave , ionosphere , geophysics , oceanography , astrophysics , finance , economics
The Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model, version 3 (WACCM3) is a state‐of‐the‐art climate model extending from the Earth's surface to the lower thermosphere. In this paper we present a detailed climatology of the dynamics of the middle atmosphere as represented by WACCM3 at various horizontal resolutions and compare them to observations. In addition to the mean climatological fields, we examine in detail the middle atmospheric momentum budget as well as several lower and upper atmosphere coupling phenomena including stratospheric sudden warmings, the 2‐day wave, and the migrating diurnal tide. We find that in large part, differences between WACCM3 and observations and the mean state of the model at various horizontal resolutions are related to gravity wave drag, which is parameterized in WACCM3 (and similar models). All three lower and upper atmosphere coupling processes examined show high sensitivity to the model's resolution.
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