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Gravity Waves Retreat
19 June to 6 July 2006
Gravity Waves Observations Modeled Wave Field

Participant List       Meeting Agenda

Gravity Waves Retreat Summary

A Gravity Waves Retreat covering the Lower & Upper Atmosphere Coupling was held at NCAR 19 June - 6 July 2006. The organizing committee consisted of:

Retreat Focus - Atmospheric Gravity Waves. Gravity waves play a central role in the coupling of the lower and upper atmosphere. They transfer momentum from their lower tropospheric and upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric (UTLS) sources to middle and upper atmospheric regions, e.g., the stratosphere and mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT). In these regions, gravity waves break or dissipate, thereby inducing eddy transport of momentum, heat, and atmospheric species. These mesoscale-regional scale processes have global significance because of their accumulative effects from the global distribution of various wave sources. The primary challenges to observational, numerical, and analytical studies are how to better quantify gravity wave excitation as related to various tropospheric processes, the global distribution of the wave sources, their propagation and breaking, and the multiscale interactions involving gravity waves in the UTLS and MLT regions. The goal of this retreat is to provide a forum for cross-institution and interdisciplinary discussions, leading to new insights, innovative approaches, and collaborations.

White Paper: Gravity Waves in Weather, Climate, & Atmospheric Chemistry: Issues & Challenges for the Community

Participants

Joan Alexander - NWRA / CoRA
Rit Carbone - NCAR - TllMES
Al Cooper - NCAR – EOL RAF
Andreas Dornbrack - DLR Oberpfaffenhofen
James Doyle - Naval Research Lab
Tim Dunkerton - Northwest Research Associates
Stephen Eckermann - Naval Research Lab
David Fritts - Colorado Research Associates
Ken Gage - NOAA Earth System Research Lab
Rolando Garcia - NCAR - ACD
Chet Gardner - University of Illinois
Marv Geller - Stony Brook University
Maura Hagan - NCAR – HAO & ASP
Kevin Hamilton - University of Hawaii
Alex Hassiotis - PSU & NCAR - ASP

Todd Lane - The University of Melbourne
Hanli Liu - NCAR - HAO
Mitch Moncrieff - NCAR - MMM
Laura Pan - NCAR - ACD
Bill Randel - NCAR - ACD
Jadwiga Richter - NCAR - ASP
Fabrizio Sassi - NCAR - CGD
Ted Shepherd - University of Toronto
Ron Smith - Yale
Anne Smith - NCAR – ACD
Piotr Smolarkiewicz - NCAR - MMM
Bob Vincent - University of Adelaide
Mike Waite - NCAR – MMM & ASP
Dong Wu - Jet Propulsion Lab
Fuqing Zhang - Texas A&M University

Agenda & Presentations - Week of 26 June 2006


Monday 26 June 2006

2 pm: Observations: Chair: J. Alexander

  1. D. Wu: “Observations of small-scale wave processes with satellite nadir and limb techniques”
  2. B. Randel: “Wave-critical layer interactions observed using GPS radio occultation measurements”

4 pm: Sources: Chair: J. Richter

  1. T. Lane: “Wave breaking, secondary generation, and mixing above deep convection”
  2. F. Zhang: “Wave characteristics from the jet-fronts”

 

Tuesday 27 June

8:30 am: Source Observations: Chair: D. Wu

  1. J. Alexander: “Using observations to constrain gravity wave source parameterizations”
  2. M. Geller: “Source parameter estimates from radiosonde data”
  3. R. Vincent: “Source momentum flux estimates from superpressure balloons”

10:30 am: Source Observations: Chair: S. Eckerman

  1. J. Doyle: “Three-dimensional characteristics of mountain waves: A preliminary perspective from
    T-REX”
  2. R. Smith: “Gravity waves in the stratosphere found during T-Rex with the GV”

2 pm: Impacts: Chair: J. Doyle

  1. A. Dornbrack: “Impact of inertia-gravity waves on polar stratospheric clouds and ice-supersaturated regions”
  2. S. Eckerman: “Explicitly resolved stratospheric gravity waves in swath-scanned radiance imagery and high Resolution NWP Model Runs”

4 pm: Impacts: Chair: B. Randel

  1. A. Smith: “Using global chemical models and chemical observations to diagnose eddy diffusion”
  2. H. Liu: “Turbopause region and gravity waves"

 

Wednesday 28 June

9 am: Campaigns Invited Talks: Chair: T. Lane

  1. R. Vincent: “Field campaigns for observations of gravity waves”
  2. W. Cooper: “ Aircraft capabilities for measurements of gravity waves”

11 am: Campaigns Discussion: Chair: R. Vincent

 

Thursday 29 June

8:30 am: Modeling/Parameterizations: Chair: R. Garcia

  1. T. Dunkerton: “GW parameterizations: my perspective”
  2. J. Richter: “Source spectrum parameterizations for convectively generated gravity waves”
  3. F. Sassi: “Experiments with WACCM: A sensitivity study”

11 am: Modeling/Parameterizations: Chair: T. Dunkerton

  1. K. Hamilton: “ Application of high-resolution global models to the gravity wave parameterization issue”
  2. T. Shepherd: “Can we trust the simulated GW response to climate change?”

2 pm: Modeling/Parameterizations: Chair: R. Smith

  1. P. Smolarkiewicz: “Modeling tools for the gravity wave problem”
  2. M. Waite: “Simulations of gravity wave breaking and the observed vertical wavenumber spectrum”
  3. D. Fritts: "GW breaking, wave-wave interactions, turbulence, and Prandtl numbers"

4 pm: Discussion: Chair: T. Shepherd
How to move the parameterization problem forward?

 

Friday, 30 June

9 am: Open Discussion: Chair: M. Geller

11 am: Open Discussion: Chair: K. Hamilton

2 pm: Wrap-up Discussion: Chairs: H. Liu, J. Richter, D. Wu, F. Zhang