THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS This PDF is available at http://nap.edu/19798 SHARE Proceedings of the Seminar on the Impact of GATE on Large-Scale Numerical Modeling of the Atmosphere and Ocean, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, August 20-29, 1979 (1980) DETAILS 287 pages | 8.5 x 10 | PAPERBACK ISBN 978-0-309-33224-8 | DOI 10.17226/19798 CONTRIBUTORS GET THIS BOOK GATE Panel; U.S. Committee for the Global Atmospheric Research Program; Assembly of Mathematical and Physical Sciences; National Research Council FIND RELATED TITLES SUGGESTED CITATION National Research Council 1980. Proceedings of the Seminar on the Impact of GATE on Large-Scale Numerical Modeling of the Atmosphere and Ocean, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, August 20-29, 1979. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/19798. 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Proceedings of the Seminar on The Impact of GATE on Large-Scale Numerical Modeling of the Atmosphere and Ocean Woods Hole, Massachusetts ) August20-29, 1979 1 GATE Panel U.S. Committee for the Global Atmospheric Research Program Assembly of Mathematical and Physical Sciences National Research Council NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Washington, D.C. 1980 Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Proceedings of the Seminar on the Impact of GATE on Large-Scale Numerical Modeling of the Atmosphere and Ocean, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, ... NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the Conunittee responsible for this report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors accord ing to procedures approved by a Report Review Conunittee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engi neering, and the Institute of Medicine. The material reported by the following authors was based wholly, or in part, on work supported by the Division of Atmospheric Sciences, National Science Foundation, under the indicated grants: J. Charney, ATM-7620070.AOl K. Ooyama, National Center for s. Cox, ATM-7805743.AOl Atmospheric Researcht s. Esbensen, ATM-7818805* D. Randall, ATM-7910844 w. Frank, ATM-7910606* R. Reed, ATM-7906105 M. Garstang, ATM-7421701.A05* D. Rodenhuis, ATM-7601201.A02* w. Gray, ATM-7801640.AOl* s. Soong, ATM-7811642.AOl* R. Houze, ATM-7816859.AOl* D. Stevens, ATM-7826764* R. Johnson, ATM-7811633.AOl c. Warner, ATM-7421701.A05* Y. Ogura, ATM-7811642.AOl* E. Zipser, National Center for Atmospheric Researcht *These grants were jointly funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. GATE Project Office, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra tion. t'l'he National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The U.S. Committee for the Global Atmospheric Research Program and its GATE Panel sponsored this seminar through the support provided by the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin istration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under NSF Contract Cl30, Task Order 197. Any opinions, findings, and conclu sions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Available from U.S. Committee for the Global Atmospheric Research Program 2101 Constitution Avenue Washington, D.C. 20418 Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Proceedings of the Seminar on the Impact of GATE on Large-Scale Numerical Modeling of the Atmosphere and Ocean, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, ... U.S. Committee for the Global Atmospheric Research Program Verner E. Suomi, University of Wisconsin, Chairman Francis P. Bretherton, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Vice Chairman Richard A. Anthes, Pennsylvania State University o. James Baker, Jr., University of Washington T. N. Krishnamurti, Florida State University John B. Kutzbach, University of Wisconsin Richard s. Lindzen, Harvard University Syukuro Manabe, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Norman A. Phillips, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Richard J. Reed, University of Washington Peter B. Rhines, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution John M. Wallace, University of Washington John s. Perry, National Research Council, Executive Scientist Thomas H. R. O'Neill, National Research Council, Executive Secretary Fred D. White, National Research Council, Consultant LIAISON WITH FEDERAL AGENCIES Eugene W. Bierly, National Science Foundation Rex Fleming, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Elbert Friday, Department of Defense Robert A. Schiffer, National Aeronautics and Space Administration iii Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Proceedings of the Seminar on the Impact of GATE on Large-Scale Numerical Modeling of the Atmosphere and Ocean, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, ... GARP Atlantic Tropical Experiment (GATE) Panel Richard J. Reed, University of Washington, Chairman Robert Burpee, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Stephen K. Cox, Colorado State University Joshua z. Holland, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration George Philander, Princeton University Wayne Schubert, Colorado State University Joanne Simpson, National Aeronautics and Space Administration iv Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Proceedings of the Seminar on the Impact of GATE on Large-Scale Numerical Modeling of the Atmosphere and Ocean, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, ... Organizing Committee for the Seminar on the Impact of GATE on Large-Scale Numerical Modeling of the Atmosphere and Ocean Richard J. Reed, University of Washington, Chairman Bruce Albrecht, Pennsylvania State University Richard A. Anthes, Pennsylvania State University Robert Burpee, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration George Philander, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Wayne Schubert, Colorado State University Joanne Simpson, National Aeronautics and Space Administration v Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Proceedings of the Seminar on the Impact of GATE on Large-Scale Numerical Modeling of the Atmosphere and Ocean, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, ... Foreword The tropics cover half of the earth and what have been called the equatorial tropics about half of that region. Most of this quarter of the earth (71 percent) is ocean, and the land is mainly tropical jungle. Thus, although this region can be considered as the boiler of the giant atmospheric heat engine, "it has been recognized for some time that the meteorology of the tropical oceans constitutes one of the weakest links in our understanding of the general circulation of the atmosphere and, therefore, in our ability to model weather and climate. Routine synoptic data have never been ade quate to define the mesoscale motions, and what detailed knowledge exists has been gained from special observational experiment."* Satellite views of this region, especially those from geostationary altitude, show that much of the disturbed weather occurs in "cloud clusters" --the name given to the regions of organized deep convection that dominate the heat release in this region. These cloud clusters are very large in terms of individual convective cells but are small on the scale of the entire globe. Their dimensions are much smaller than the grid spacing of a typical numerical model used to simulate the general circulation (general circulation model or GCM) and thus the important contribution of these sub grid scale motions must be "parameterized" to be included realistically. Also, tests with these GCM's show that the behavior of the tropics has a profound influence on the weather at higher latitudes since a significant amount of the energy is transmitted from the equatorial region to higher latitudes. The main purpose of the GARP Atlantic Tropical Experiment is to better understand the mechanism or mechanisms by which deep cumulus convection is organized by the synoptic or large-scale motions and how the resulting convective activity affects the synoptic motions that can be treated in the models. If we were to learn that synoptic-scale motions are unimpor tant in the organization of convective activity in the equatorial tropics, the task of extended weather prediction would be considerably more diffi cult and its cost significantly higher. The data-collection stage of this massive international experiment was completed five years ago. Since that time scientists have completed much *U.S. Conunittee for GARP, 1971: Plan for U.S. Participation in the GARP Atlantic Tropical Experiment. vii Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Proceedings of the Seminar on the Impact of GATE on Large-Scale Numerical Modeling of the Atmosphere and Ocean, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, ... of their analysis. The report of this workshop is the initial attempt at a synthesis of a physical understanding, but it is only the beginning. This synthesis must now be further validated not only with other data collected during GATE but also with data from other parts of the earth as well. This will soon be possible with the excellent data collected during the Global Weather Experiment in which a major effort was made to observe the entire earth, with special emphasis on the tropics. Five years is a very short time from the beginning of the field experi ment to the synthesis of results. This rapid progress was achieved because of careful planning, high-quality observations, excellent data management, and dedicated efforts by the scientists. The first results reported here are not yet definitive but do show clearly the potential of GATE. On behalf of the U.S. Conunittee for the Global Atmospheric Research Program, I wish to express our gratitude to Richard J. Reed, Chairman of the GATE Panel, and to all those who continue to add to GATE's successes. Vemer E. Suomi, Chairman U.S. Committee for the Global Atmospheric Research Program viii Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Proceedings of the Seminar on the Impact of GATE on Large-Scale Numerical Modeling of the Atmosphere and Ocean, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, ... This dopument reports the proceedings of a seminar held at the National Academy of Sciences Summer Study Center, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, August 20-29, 1979. The seminar was arranged by the GATE Panel of the U.S. Com mittee for the Global Atmospheric Research Program for the purpose of evaluating the impact of GATE on large-scale modeling of the atmosphere and ocean. An earlier workshop assessing the progress of GATE research, sponsored by the GATE Panel, was held at the National Center for Atmo spheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, during the swmner of 1977. At that time, much of the data analysis was in a preliminary stage, and the focus was necessarily on descriptive aspects of the research. Although some results of numerical modeling experiments were presented at the work shop, it was still too early to evaluate the significance of the observa tional findings for the development of improved large-scale models of the atmosphere and ocean. It remained for this later meeting to attempt a first evaluation. In order to make a proper assessment, the organizers felt that it was desirable to bring together data analysts, theoreticians, and numerical modelers in a setting that would be conducive to an effective exchange of information and ideas. Thus it was decided to hold a seminar in which invited speakers were given assigned topics and in which equal time was allotted to presentation and discussion of results. Also, it was decided to restrict the number of participants to the size that could be accom modated in a typical seminar room. Regrettably, this decision precluded the direct participation of many workers who have made substantial con tributions to GATE research. These workers should know that their con tributions did not go unrecognized in the seminar. It is hoped that the extended summaries of the papers presented at the seminar and the report following each paper concerning the main items of discussion will allow those who could not attend to be adequately informed of the outcome. The GATE Panel wishes to express its thanks to all those who contrib uted to the success of the seminar: to the organizers for their efforts in arranging the sessions and preparing the summary; to the rapporteurs for recording the highlights of the discussions; to John s. Perry and Thomas H. R. O'Neill of the GARP Committee staff for their valuable help in the planning, implementation, and documentation of the meeting; and to Doris Bouadjemi and Theresa Fisher of the GARP Committee staff for their untiring secretarial assistance during the course of the seminar. ix Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Proceedings of the Seminar on the Impact of GATE on Large-Scale Numerical Modeling of the Atmosphere and Ocean, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, ... Dr. O'Neill's contributions to the organization of the meeting were much in evidence despite the illness that prevented him from being present. Richard J. Reed, Chairman GATE Panel x Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.