Articles | Volume 26, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-7607-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-7607-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Stratospheric gravity waves in three high-resolution models and AIRS satellite observations
University of Bath, Bath, UK
Haruka Okui
University of Bath, Bath, UK
Department of Earth and Planetary Science, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Joan Alexander
Northwest Research Associates, Boulder, CO, USA
Manfred Ern
Institute of Climate and Energy Systems: Stratosphere (ICE-4), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
Neil P. Hindley
University of Bath, Bath, UK
Lars Hoffmann
Jülich Supercomputing Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
Laura Holt
Northwest Research Associates, Boulder, CO, USA
Annelize van Niekerk
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Reading, UK
Riwal Plougonven
Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique / IPSL, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, CNRS, Palaiseau, France
Inna Polichtchouk
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Reading, UK
Claudia C. Stephan
Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Rostock, Kühlungsborn, Germany
Martina Bramberger
NSF National Centre for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA
Milena Corcos
Northwest Research Associates, Boulder, CO, USA
William Putnam
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
Christopher Kruse
Research Aviation Facility, Earth Observing Laboratory, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA
Corwin J. Wright
University of Bath, Bath, UK
Data sets
ERA5 hourly data on pressure levels from 1940 to present Copernicus Climate Change Service: https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.bd0915c6
AIRS/Aqua Observations of Gravity Waves Lars Hoffmann https://doi.org/10.26165/JUELICH-DATA/LQAAJA
Editorial statement
Global atmospheric models have now become sufficiently high resolution to resolve explicitly even quite small atmospheric gravity waves. These waves transport energy and momentum from the lower to the middle/upper atmosphere, and play a fundamental role in driving large-scale atmospheric circulation. This paper compares three high-resolution models (horizontal resolution less than 5 km) with observations made by the AIRS satellite. Although there are significant areas of agreement, models continue to underestimate amplitudes and overestimate gravity wave occurrence. In particular, there is major room for improvement in the modelling of convective gravity waves.
Global atmospheric models have now become sufficiently high resolution to resolve explicitly...
Short summary
Gravity waves are small-scale processes that drive the circulation in the middle and upper atmosphere. In this work, we assess 3 new high-resolution (3-5km horizontal resolution) models against satellite data. Generally, models capture the spatial patterns and represent stratospheric northern hemisphere mountain generated waves well. However, they still underestimate amplitudes globally and struggle with the representation of southern hemispheric convective waves.
Gravity waves are small-scale processes that drive the circulation in the middle and upper...
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