Recent developments in gravity‐wave effects in climate models and the global distribution of gravity‐wave momentum flux from observations and models

TLDR

Recent observational and theoretical studies have highlighted the global influence of small‑scale atmospheric gravity waves on circulation from the surface to the middle atmosphere, yet their parameters have been difficult to constrain due to their small scale and intermittent occurrence. This review aims to assess recent studies on gravity‑wave effects in stratosphere‑resolving climate models, observations, and analysis methods, and to outline future research needs for improving their treatment in climate simulations. We examine very‑high‑resolution global models that resolve gravity waves and their circulation effects, and we evaluate innovative analysis methods that reveal global patterns in gravity‑wave momentum fluxes. Satellite datasets with improved resolution and innovative analysis methods now provide constraints for parametrizations, while very‑high‑resolution models show realistic gravity‑wave properties when validated against observations. © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society and Crown in the right of Canada.

Abstract

Abstract Recent observational and theoretical studies of the global properties of small‐scale atmospheric gravity waves have highlighted the global effects of these waves on the circulation from the surface to the middle atmosphere. The effects of gravity waves on the large‐scale circulation have long been treated via parametrizations in both climate and weather‐forecasting applications. In these parametrizations, key parameters describe the global distributions of gravity‐wave momentum flux, wavelengths and frequencies. Until recently, global observations could not define the required parameters because the waves are small in scale and intermittent in occurrence. Recent satellite and other global datasets with improved resolution, along with innovative analysis methods, are now providing constraints for the parametrizations that can improve the treatment of these waves in climate‐prediction models. Research using very‐high‐resolution global models has also recently demonstrated the capability to resolve gravity waves and their circulation effects, and when tested against observations these models show some very realistic properties. Here we review recent studies on gravity‐wave effects in stratosphere‐resolving climate models, recent observations and analysis methods that reveal global patterns in gravity‐wave momentum fluxes and results of very‐high‐resolution model studies, and we outline some future research requirements to improve the treatment of these waves in climate simulations. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society and Crown in the right of Canada