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Summary: 324 VOLUME 61J O U R N A L O F T H E A T M O S P H E R I C S C I E N C E S
2004 American Meteorological Society
A Method of Specifying the Gravity Wave Spectrum above Convection Based on
Latent Heating Properties and Background Wind
JADWIGA H. BERES
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
M. JOAN ALEXANDER
Colorado Research Associates, Boulder, Colorado
JAMES R. HOLTON
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
(Manuscript received 27 November 2002, in final form 13 August 2003)
ABSTRACT
The spectrum of convectively generated gravity waves is currently not resolved in general circulation models
and must be parameterized. Due to the lack of understanding of the connection between convection properties
and gravity waves, such parameterizations assume a source spectrum of gravity waves that is not linked to the
forcing region. This paper introduces a method of specifying the gravity wave spectrum above convection based
on the latent heating properties and background wind in the convective region that can be implemented in general
circulation models. This method is based on linear calculations of momentum flux generated by a multifrequency
thermal forcing and incorporates the effects of tropospheric mean wind in the convective environment. In the
analysis, gravity waves that are generated by both the steady and the oscillatory component of the heating are
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