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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 112, D10115, doi:10.1029/2006JD007823, 2007

Stratospheric gravity wave simulation over Greenland during 24 January 2005

Varavut Limpasuvan

Department of Chemistry and Physics, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, South Carolina, USA


Dong L. Wu

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA


M. Joan Alexander

Colorado Research Associate Division, NorthWest Research Associates, Inc., Boulder, Colorado, USA


Ming Xue

Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA


Ming Hu

Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA


Steven Pawson

Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA


James R. Perkins

Department of Computer Sciences, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, South Carolina, USA


Abstract

The “Advanced Regional Prediction System” forecast model is extended up to the stratopause and over the entire hemisphere to simulate gravity waves during 24 January 2005. With a 15-km horizontal resolution, the simulation produces dominant gravity wave features near Eastern Greenland that are associated mainly with orographic forcing by the Greenland terrain. The simulated wave temperature perturbations compare favorably with radiance perturbations from NASA Atmospheric Infrared Sounder observations. In the upper stratosphere (40–50 km), vertical overturning of the isentropes suggests the occurrence of wave breaking just east of Greenland that leads to a tremendous reduction of wave amplitudes. The associated flux divergence produces horizontal flow deceleration of 12–120 m s−1 day−1 and coincides with areas of depleted stratospheric wind speed, suggesting strong interactions between orographic gravity waves and the polar vortex. A simulation using the coarser 50-km horizontal resolution produces gravity waves of significantly weaker amplitudes.

Received 24 July 2006; accepted 14 February 2007; published 24 May 2007.

Keywords: Gravity waves; polar vortex; mesoscale modeling.

Index Terms: 3349 Atmospheric Processes: Polar meteorology; 3384 Atmospheric Processes: Acoustic-gravity waves; 3334 Atmospheric Processes: Middle atmosphere dynamics (0341, 0342); 3355 Atmospheric Processes: Regional modeling; 3362 Atmospheric Processes: Stratosphere/troposphere interactions.

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Citation: Limpasuvan, V., D. L. Wu, M. Joan Alexander, M. Xue, M. Hu, S. Pawson, and J. R. Perkins (2007), Stratospheric gravity wave simulation over Greenland during 24 January 2005, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D10115, doi:10.1029/2006JD007823.