Journal
JOURNAL OF THE ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES
Volume 73, Issue 4, Pages 1649-1665Publisher
AMER METEOROLOGICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1175/JAS-D-15-0099.1
Keywords
Stratospheric circulation; Atm/Ocean Structure/ Phenomena; Models and modeling; Circulation/ Dynamics; Subgrid-scale processes; Gravity waves; General circulation models; Quasibiennial oscillation; Stratosphere-troposphere coupling
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Funding
- C-SPARC postdoctoral fellowship
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The quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) of tropical stratospheric zonal winds is simulated in an atmospheric general circulation model and its sensitivity to model parameters is explored. Vertical resolution in the lower tropical stratosphere finer than approximate to 1 km and sufficiently strong forcing by parameterized nonorographic gravity wave drag are both required for the model to exhibit a QBO-like oscillation. Coarser vertical resolution yields oscillations that are seasonally synchronized and driven mainly by gravity wave drag. As vertical resolution increases, wave forcing in the tropical lower stratosphere increases and seasonal synchronization is disrupted, allowing quasi-biennial periodicity to emerge. Seasonal synchronization could result from the form of wave dissipation assumed in the gravity wave parameterization, which allows downward influence by semiannual oscillation (SAO) winds, whereas dissipation of resolved waves is consistent with radiative damping and no downward influence. Parameterized wave drag is nevertheless required to generate a realistic QBO, effectively acting to amplify the relatively weaker mean-flow forcing by resolved waves.
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