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

286 Pages·1980·17.627 MB·English

by  GATE Panel, U.S. Committee for the Global Atmospheric Research Program, Assembly of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, National Research Council

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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, August 20-29, 1979 (1980)
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287 pages | 8.5 x 10 | PAPERBACK
ISBN 978-0-309-33224-8 | DOI 10.17226/19798
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GET THIS BOOK GATE Panel; U.S. Committee for the Global Atmospheric Research Program; Assembly
of Mathematical and Physical Sciences; National Research Council
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GATE on Large-Scale Numerical Modeling of the Atmosphere and Ocean, Woods Hole,
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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, August...
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.