A comparison of a GCM simulation of the seasonal cycle of the atmosphere with observations part II: Stationary waves and transient fluctuations |
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| Authors: | David M Straus J Shukla |
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| Institution: | 1. Laboratory for Atmospheres , NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD, 20771;2. Center for Ocean‐Land‐Atmosphere Interactions, Department of Meteorology , University of Maryland , College Park, MD, 20742 |
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| Abstract: | Abstract This paper presents the seasonal dependence of the stationary and transient eddies of the GLAS/UMD GCM from a two‐year annual cycle integration. The simulated Northern Hemisphere stationary waves are realistic in winter (below 250 mb) and in spring and fall; in winter a large anomalous ridge over the date‐line is noted above 250 mb. The model does not simulate the winter barotropic trough over eastern Canada. In summer the mid‐latitude stationary waves are poorly simulated (possibly owing to anomalous summer rainfall), but the monsoonal structure in the tropics is captured. The stationary wave field at 500 mb in the Southern Hemisphere is not well simulated, with the range of season‐to‐season variability being much larger than observed. The zonally averaged stationary wave rms is realistic below 200 mb in winter and spring, but is less so in summer and autumn, possibly due to erroneous summertime precipitation. The geographical distributions of 500‐mb transient and band‐pass height rms, of transient 850‐mb heat flux and of 200‐mb momentum flux in the Northern Hemisphere are well simulated except for summer. The latitude‐height dependence of height rms and low‐level transient heat flux is realistic in both summer and winter, but the transient momentum flux is not well simulated in summer. The mid‐level transient heat flux is too strong. The overall pattern of transient activity at 500 mb in the Southern Hemisphere is reasonable in the GCM, although there is too much variability in the eastern Pacific, while the observed peak in rms in the New Zealand sector is displaced eastwards in the GCM. The latitude‐height dependence of transient height rms and transient fluxes of heat and momentum looks quite realistic, and is similar in accuracy to the Northern Hemispheric results. |
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