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arXiv · 2504.01657

Impact of Small-Scale Gravity Waves on Tracer Transport

Irmgard Knop·Stamen Dolaptchiev·Ulrich Achatz
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Abstract

Small-scale gravity waves, with horizontal wavelengths of up to a few hundred kilometers and vertical wavelengths of up to a few kilometers, play a crucial role in atmospheric tracer transport. However, their effects remain unresolved in climate models and must be parameterized. This study investigates how gravity waves influence large-scale tracer distributions, utilizing a multiple-scale analysis to systematically identify the governing terms of gravity wave-induced tracer fluxes. The analysis reveals both leading-order and next-order impacts: the former being the inertia-gravity wave-induced tracer Stokes drift, which acts perpendicular to both the large-scale tracer gradient and the wave number, while the latter becomes significant at lower latitudes where Coriolis effects diminish. A numerical framework is developed to incorporate these fluxes into a gravity wave parameterization model, potentially enhancing climate model accuracy without requiring explicit resolution of small-scale wave dynamics. Model validation against high-resolution wave-resolving simulations confirms the effectiveness of this approach. By improving the representation of gravity wave-induced tracer transport, this research advances the accuracy of climate simulations, particularly in their depiction of microphysics and radiative processes.

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Irmgard Knop, Stamen Dolaptchiev, Ulrich Achatz. 2025-04-02. Impact of Small-Scale Gravity Waves on Tracer Transport. https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.01657

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