Publication:

(1) Enhancement in the migrating semidiurnal tide during stratospheric warming event
Wu et al. (2010) Global distribution, seasonal, and inter-annual variations of mesospheric semidiurnal tide observation by TIMED TIDI, submitted to JGR.

Abstract:

In atmospheric and space environment studies it is key to understand and to quantify the coupling of atmospheric regions and the solar impacts on the whole atmosphere system. There is thus a need for a numerical model that encompasses the whole atmosphere and can self-consistently simulate the dynamic, physical, chemical, radiative and electrodynamic processes that are important for the Sun-Earth system. This is the goal for developing the NCAR Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM). Liu et al. (2010) report the development and preliminary validation of the thermospheric extension of WACCM (WACCM-X), which extends from the Earth's surface to the upper thermosphere. The WACCM-X uses the finite volume dynamical core from the NCAR Community Atmosphere Model, includes an interactive chemistry module resolving most known neutral chemistry and major ion chemistry in the middle and upper atmosphere, and photolysis and photo-ionization. Upper atmosphere processes, such as non-local thermodynamic equilibrium, radiative transfer, auroral processes, ion drag, and molecular diffusion of major and minor species have been included in the model. The model performance was evaluated by examining the quantities essential for the climate and weather of the upper atmosphere: the mean compositional, thermal, and wind structures from the troposphere to the upper thermosphere and their variability on inter-annual, seasonal, and daily scales. WACCM-X developments are part of the Community Earth System Modeling (CESM) program.