M. Joan Alexander Research Scientist

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Global Modelling Studies

The Alexander and Dunkerton (1999) parameterization for gravity wave wind tendencies (or drag) has been employed in several internationally prominent climate models: (1) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (NOAA/GFDL) Flexible Model System (FMS) [Austin and Wilson, 2006], (2) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) ModelE [Geller et al., 2011], and (3) the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI) ECHAM5 model [Schirber et al., 2014]. It has also been employed in numerous mechanistic and theoretical model studies.

With Postdoctoral Researcher Laura Holt, we are studying resolved gravity waves in NASA's "Nature Run", a global 7-km-resolution model that extends to the mesosphere. With this model tool, we investigate a variety of sources of gravity waves, their propagation, and their interaction with the general circulation. See Holt et al. [2014] for a recent example.

We are also studying tropical waves generated by convection in idealized global models. This work utilizes the global measurements of precipitation from satellite experiments including the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM). Estimating high-frequency variability in the latent heat release associated with the precipitation permits us to model the atmospheric waves generated as a result of this latent heating. See our work Ortland and Alexander [2014] for a recent example.