Method for comparison of observed and simulated data in a coarse-resolution, sigma-coordinate atmospheric general circulation model
Most general circulation models of earth's atmosphere use the sigma-coordinate system which simplifies the modeling of flows where the orography is important, while observations are usually presented on constant pressure surfaces. A method for dealing with the conversion of sigma-coordinate data to pressure coordinates is proposed for the analysis of the time-averaged statistics of the circulation simulated by the OSU two-level AGCM. Using this method the model's mass balance and the total energy budget for January and July are discussed and compared with the corresponding results from observations and with the original model data in sigma coordinates. The mass circulation in the vicinity of significant orograpic features (such as the Tibetan Plateau) is more easily interpreted in the new diagnostic coordinate system. The secondary circulations in the vicinity of the major jet streams are closely examined. The new coordinate system is also found to be useful in interpreting the total energy budget of the model atmosphere.
- Research Organization:
- Oregon State Univ., Corvallis (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 5279898
- Resource Relation:
- Related Information: Climatic Research Institute report No. 54
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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