Abstract
Mean fields from a perpetual January simulation of a GCM extending from the surface to 0.01 hPa (near 80 km) are compared to observations. The zonal mean temperature and wind fields correspond quite well with reality; the low stratosphere, especially in the polar night, is too cold, but warmer than in the original version of the model, with an upper boundary at 25 hPa. Mean fields at standard levels show that the major features of the troposphere are represented by the model, but rather over emphasised; the stratospheric winter polar vortex is too strong, too cold, and too barotropic; it resembles an `undisturbed' January rather than the climatology. Differences in the stationary eddy activity between the extended and orginal versions of the model are noted, and used to explain some differences between the two simulations.
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Pawson, S., Langematz, U., Meyer, A. et al. A comparison of the climatology of a tropospherestratosphere-mesosphere model with observations. Climate Dynamics 5, 161–174 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00251807
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00251807