Effects of Non-orographic Gravity Wave Drag on Seasonal and Medium-range Predictions in a Global Forecast Model

Abstract

This study implements the parameterizations of convective and frontal gravity wave drag (GWD) with wide phase speed spectra into a global forecast model with a model top near 0.3 hPa. The new convective GWD scheme replaces the existing one that considers only a stationary convective GW, and the frontal GWD scheme is newly introduced. When the new GWD schemes are used, the Rayleigh friction, applied above 2 hPa to mimic the effects of missing GWD, is removed. The convective (frontal) GWs are generated mainly in the Intertropical Convergence Zone and winter extratropical storm track regions (extratropics where strong baroclinicity exists). The convective and frontal GWD derived from the new schemes are significant near the model top, with maxima of ~2-4 and ~26-58 m s−1 day−1, respectively. The differences in convective GWD between the stationary and non-stationary schemes appear mainly in the tropics and summer hemisphere, where stationary GWs cannot propagate upward. The new schemes improve the seasonal representation of stratospheric wind, through changes in both the GWD and the resolved wave forcing, which is modulated by the changed large-scale wind due to the GWD. The downward influence, in response to the changed GWD, is also positive in the tropospheric fields, such as subtropical jet and planetary-scale disturbances. For the medium-range forecasts, improved skill scores on wind speed are achieved globally with the new schemes. The improvements mostly appear only in the stratosphere during the early forecast period (~3 days) but expand to the troposphere as forecast time increases.