Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 62 (2000) 1015–1033

www.elsevier.nl/locate/jastp

Parameterization of gravity wave momentum deposition based

on nonlinear wave interactions: basic formulation and
sensitivity tests
A.S. Medvedev, G.P. Klaassen ∗
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science, York University, 4700 Keele St. Toronto, Ont., Canada M3J 1P3
Received 5 November 1999; accepted 27 April 2000

Abstract
We present a practical method for parameterization of gravity wave drag based on the Medvedev and Klaassen (1995.
Journal of Geophysical Research 100, 25,841–25,853) theory of gravity wave spectral evolution and saturation. The only
tuning necessary for the scheme involves assumptions about the nature of the source spectrum of subgrid-scale gravity waves,
i.e. the wavenumbers, launch heights and amplitudes of the spectral components. In this paper we employ a column model with
representative distributions of mean wind and temperature to examine the sensitivity of the parameterized wave drag to the
source spectra. For the range of anticipated variability of source spectra in the troposphere the scheme produces plausible results
consistent with observations and with theoretical estimates. Computationally, the scheme is as ecient as a multiple-wave
Lindzen scheme, and suitable for use in general circulation models (GCMs) of the atmosphere. c 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd.
All rights reserved.

Keywords: Gravity waves; Parameterization; Middle atmosphere modelling

1. Introduction is directly associated with wave damping. The spectra in the

Gravity wave (GW) drag deposited by waves propagat-
ing from below substantially aects the circulation of the
middle atmosphere. Parameterization of these subgrid-scale
processes in general circulation models requires the spec-
tail can be approximated by S(m) ≈ AN 2 =m3 , where N is
the Brunt–Vaisala frequency, m is the vertical wavenumber,
and A is the constant. It is this “saturation” of wave ampli-
tudes with height, despite the diminishing gas density, which
implies the existence of some physical damping process.
ication of gravity wave sources as well as an absorption Various spectral theories of GW drag have been devel-
mechanism which causes damping of waves and deposition oped for use in atmospheric models. One approach is to
of their momentum to the mean
ow. assume waves propagate independently, with each compo-
A manifestation of systematic wave damping processes in nent of the spectrum attaining saturation after exceeding
the middle atmosphere is the apparent “universality” of ob- the convective=dynamic instability threshold proposed by
served gravity wave spectra (Smith et al., 1987). In this re- Lindzen (1981, hereafter L81). Although this approach has
spect, perhaps the most signicant feature of universal spec- been employed with some success in a number of numerical
tra is the power-law behavior of the high vertical wavenum- models (Holton, 1982; Garcia and Solomon, 1985), it tends
ber “tails” of their power-spectral densities (PSD), S, which to generate step-function GW drag proles where the mo-
mentum deposition onsets suddenly at the breaking level.
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: 1-416-736-2100; fax: 1-416- More recently, Hamilton (1997) and Norton and Thuburn
(1997) found that such multiple-wave Lindzen-type GWD
736-5817.
E-mail addresses: medvedev@nimbus.yorku.ca (A.S. parameterizations tend to produce drag in GCMs at alti-
Medvedev), gklaass@yorku.ca (G.P. Klaassen). tudes that are too high, if moderate launch amplitudes are

1364-6826/00/$ - see front matter c 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 1 3 6 4 - 6 8 2 6 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 6 7 - 5
1016 A.S. Medvedev, G.P. Klaassen / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 62 (2000) 1015–1033

assumed. Stronger launch amplitudes of course induce mo- ory and produces the correct power law at high vertical
mentum deposition at lower altitudes, but in this case the wavenumber, Doppler spreading is a fundamentally conser-
drag is too strong. Such linear schemes therefore must em- vative process in which waves are not damped but rather
ploy articial “eciency factors” which reduce the drag,
under the assumption that the wave activity is intermittent.
Alexander and Dunkerton (1999) have recently proposed a
broadband spectral parameterization based on the saturation
mechanism proposed by Lindzen; this scheme also invokes
an eciency parameter based on intermittent wave forcing.
ow. The H97 scheme
Fritts and Lu (1993) formulated a semi-empirical spec-
tral parameterization which circumvents some of the prob-
lems associated with the Lindzen scheme. The Fritts and
Lu scheme calculates the momentum deposition by ap-
have their intrinsic frequency (and therefore their vertical
wavenumber) transformed. Wave breaking must therefore
be imposed by chopping the spectrum a maximum “cuto”
vertical wavenumber. Waves shifted beyond this prescribed
high-wavenumber cuto are assumed to be obliterated, and
their momentum transferred the mean
has been tested in various middle atmosphere models by
Mengel et al. (1995), Manzini et al. (1997) and McFarlane
et al. (1997).
In Medvedev and Klaassen (1995, hereafter referred to
plying saturation criteria which conform to the average as MK95) we employed a modication of Weinstock’s
observed evolution of GW spectra with height. One ex- (1982,1990,1993) assumptions and technique, including
pects this approach to successfully reproduce wave drag the incorporation of nonlinear Doppler eects, to develop a
proles when GW spectra are close to average conditions. somewhat dierent representation of the vertical evolution
However, observed instantaneous spectra usually deviate of GW spectra in the atmosphere. Although we make use of
signicantly from the averaged “universal” shape, and the nonlinear diusive spectral interactions in the spirit of We-
amplitudes of averaged spectra have been shown to vary instock (1990), our approach considers only the damping
under dierent
ow conditions (Whiteway, 1999). Thus, it that spectral components with smaller vertical scale (higher
remains to be established whether the Fritts and Lu scheme m) and longer period (lower !) exert on a given wave com-
can reasonably represent the complex feedback processes ponent. This portion of the spectrum represents a “ragged”
between wave drag and the mean
ow. For example, Hecht background which contains slowly varying, small-scale
et al. (1998) have compared observed tides with those in vertical variations. As a wave possessing similar or larger
the TIMEGCM including the Fritts and Lu GWD scheme. scale vertical variations propagates through this “ragged”
McLandress (1997) has also tested the Fritts and Lu pa- background, nonlinear interactions with the spectrum cause
rameterization in a linearized primitive equation model and increased damping by forcing the given wave closer to an
reported that this particular scheme strongly damps tides in overturned state. If the damping associated with these in-
the lower thermosphere. Warner and McIntyre (1999) have teractions is moderate, the wave may achieve saturation. If,
recently proposed a related gravity wave drag parameteri- on the other hand, the interactions are suciently strong (as
zation which couples a linear conservative model of gravity in a critical level approach) the wave may be obliterated
wave propagation with saturation criteria similar to those
invoked by Fritts and Lu.
Other theories attribute saturation to nonlinear interac-
tions between components of the broad spectrum of gravity
waves. In Weinstock’s (1990) approach, wave components
with larger m and higher frequency ! are considered as a
source of enhanced scale-dependent diusion which can af-
fect the vertical evolution of waves with smaller m and lower
!. Weinstock (1990) was able to show that under saturation
conditions and in the absence of wind shear, his mechanism
of wave damping produced a power-law spectrum with m−3
dependence at high wavenumber [but note the typographical
error in his Eq. (18)].
The Doppler-spread parameterization (Hines, 1997, here-
after H97) treats the irregular
(often before reaching the critical level). MK95 veried
with numerical tests that their nonlinear wave damping
formula also tends to produce saturated spectra with m−3
dependence at high values of m.
In MK95, the RMS background wind associated with the
higher-m=lower-! portion of the spectrum also produces
Doppler shifting toward higher m. However, it should be
recognized that the MK95 theory accounts for nonlinear
interactions in a fundamentally dierent way than Hines’
Doppler-spread theory. In fact, we have found that the
Doppler shifting associated with high-m=low-! portion
of the spectrum is small enough to be neglected for the
practical purpose of wave drag parameterization. Calcu-
lations justifying the neglect this eect will be presented
uctuations of the wave eld in the current paper. This nding is partially at odds with
as an additional “RMS” background wind which preferen- Hines’ Doppler spreading. Since Hines assumes all vertical
tially shifts wave components from the lower m part of the wavenumbers contribute to the spectrum-induced Doppler
spectrum to the high-m portion. Hines himself has noted
that the use of Doppler-spreading to represent all nonlin-
ear interactions is an approximation (Hines, 1996,1999).
One of the chief shortcomings of the Doppler Spread the-
ory is that it does not produce a power-law spectrum at
high wavenumbers (Hines, 1993). Whereas wave dissipa-
tion emerges as a natural consequence of Weinstock’s the-
shifting of any specic wave component his treatment must
necessarily produce stronger nonlinear shifts than those
obtained with the restricted spectrum used in MK95. How-
ever, as pointed out by MK95, those wave components
having higher frequency than the wave to be shifted bear
little similarity to a steady background wind and should not
be treated as such. Recently published studies by Ecker-
 A.S. Medvedev, G.P. Klaassen / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 62 (2000) 1015–1033 1017

mann (1997) and Broutman et al. (1997) have conrmed of column-model tests based on representative distributions
that Hines’ assumption which “freezes” the entire RMS
wave background may to some extent overestimate wave
damping. Evidently, spectrum-induced critical levels, un-
like those associated with a truly steady background wind,
are imperfect wave absorbers. It should be noted that the
parameterization scheme described in this paper is capable
of reproducing realistic middle atmospheric circulations in
the absence of spectrum-induced Doppler shifts (Medvedev
et al., 1998).
MK95 demonstrated that in the absence of background
wind shear, wave damping due to nonlinear interactions
tends to be a gradual process which forms a saturated “uni-
versal” m−3 tail in agreement with observations. However,
the MK95 theory also includes the possibility of violent
breaking and rapid elimination of a wave component as it
approaches the convective instability threshold or a critical
level. In this paper we will demonstrate that for the case of a
saturating monochromatic wave, the MK95 wave damping
formula reduces to a form similar to, but more general than,
the simple saturation formula proposed by Lindzen (1981).
Even in this monochromatic case, MK95 includes subover-
turning and nonlinear self-interactions not found in L81.
Consequently, saturation and wave drag predicted by the
MK95 theory generally onset more smoothly and at lower
altitudes than for L81. This characteristic of MK95 carries
over to broad spectra, where again wave damping due to
nonlinear interactions tends to be a gradual process which
leads to the formation of a saturated “universal” m−3 tail.
of mean elds from CIRA-86. In Section 7, we compare
our parameterization to a multiple Lindzen-type-scheme.
A novel spectral decomposition of GW momentum deposi-
tion and RMS wind is presented in Section 8. Summary and
conclusions are given in Section 9.
2. Outline of MK95 scheme
According to MK95, the evolution of gravity wave spectra
with height z is given by the following equation:
 
dS(mR ; z) 0z mRz
= − + − ÿ S(mR ; z); (1)
dz 0 mR
where S is the power-spectral density (PSD) of horizon-
tal wind associated with gravity waves at altitude z, 0
is the mean density, mR is the real part of the nonlinear
Doppler-shifted vertical wavenumber, and ÿ is the coe-
cient of nonlinear damping due to interactions of the com-
ponent mR with other waves in the spectrum. The subscript
z in Eq. (1) indicates a vertical derivative. For eciency of
notation, we will suppress the z dependence in all dependent
variables, writing for example S(mR ).
The vertical wavenumber mR includes an additional non-
linear Doppler shift produced by waves of higher vertical
wavenumber and is related to the “linear” vertical wavenum-
ber m by the expression
√
mR = m  exp(−2 ) er(): (2)
In this paper we outline a practical gravity wave drag pa-
rameterization based on the MK95 theory, which is suitable In Eq. (2) the following notation for the error function of
for use in large-scale circulation models. Parameterizations an imaginary argument is used:
usually imply further simplications of the theories they are Z 
2
based on as well as an introduction of some tunable param- er() = √ exp(x2 ) d x;
 0
eters. The scheme we present retains all physically impor-
tant features of the theory outlined in MK95, and introduces and the dimensionless parameter  is dened by
no new tunable parameters. Although the scheme has been Z ∞
N c−u
shown to produce realistic middle atmosphere circulations = √ = √ ; 2 = S(m0 ) dm0 ; (3)
2m 2 mR
in both a mechanistic version of the NCAR Middle Atmo-
sphere CCM2 (Medvedev et al., 1997), and the Canadian where N is the buoyancy frequency, and 2 is the horizon-
Middle Atmosphere Model (Medvedev et al., 1998), neither tal wind variance created by all waves in the spectrum with
an implementation guide nor a complete examination of the vertical wavenumbers larger than the given mR . As will be
various tuning options has been presented to date. These demonstrated in Section 4,  is proportional to the square
systematic sensitivity tests and comparisons to other GWD root of an eective “spectral” Richardson number Ri for the
schemes will provide a better understanding of the mecha- component with wavenumber m. Small values of  corre-
nisms and behaviour of the MK95 scheme, and assist those spond to large Richardson number. Hereafter, we will refer
interested in implementing it in other middle atmosphere to  as the “instability parameter”.
models. Eq. (2) also makes use of the hydrostatic nonrotating
In Section 2, we present a concise formulation of the dispersion relation
scheme. A numerical implementation is given in Section 3.
m = N=(c − u); (4)
In Section 4, we discuss the physical properties of the
scheme, its relation to other well-known GWD parameteri- for “linear” waves with intrinsic frequencies !ˆ which
zations, namely those of Lindzen (L81) and Hines (H97), satisfy f
!
N
ˆ . Eq. (4), which is also known as the mid-
and approximations that are recommended in the interest of frequency dispersion relation, species the variation of the
eciency. The range of variability of input source spectra is apparent “linear” vertical wavenumber m for a wave with
discussed in Section 5. In Section 6, we present the results a given constant observed (extrinsic) phase velocity (and
1018 A.S. Medvedev, G.P. Klaassen / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 62 (2000) 1015–1033

varying intrinsic phase velocity) as it propagates through re
ections, a process in which the intrinsic frequency ex-
vertically inhomogeneous mean wind and background ceeds N . Clearly, wave groups which are re
ected down-
temperature elds. ward are unlikely to contribute to momentum deposition in
The MK95 theory yields an expression for the nonlinear the middle atmosphere, so they may be excluded from the
damping coecient ÿ that may be conveniently approxi- launch spectrum in the interest of computational eciency.
mated as
√ carries with it the implication that waves of higher vertical
ÿ = 2N−1 exp(−2 ): (5)
The detailed behaviour of the vertical damping rate ÿ will be
considered in Section 4. Brie
y, ÿ decreases with increas- !; i.e. for the mid-frequency dispersion relation, the intrin-
ing Richardson number Ri (increasing ), becoming negli-
gible for waves of suciently small amplitude. On the other
hand, as the amplitude of a particular component and that of
the higher-wavenumber portion of the spectrum grow with
ect the sign of the vertical
√ phase speed, but rather the sign of the intrinsic horizontal
height, the instability parameter  → 1= 2 (Ri → 1) from
above and the damping rate increases dramatically.
The set of equations (1) – (5) provides a closed system
for calculating the evolution of the PSD S with height. Once
the power-spectral density S(mR ) and the coecient of non-
linear damping ÿ(mR ) are known for a particular wave, the
spectral density of the momentum deposition associated with
this wave can be found from
ÿ(mR )kh S(mR )
ah (mR ) = − ; (6)
mR
where kh = |kh | is a characteristic horizontal wavenumber. 1
The total wave drag is calculated by integrating the contri-
butions from all components of the spectrum. As we shall
demonstrate, our scheme permits the simultaneous use of
reasonable launch amplitudes and horizontal wavenumbers,
and does not require kh to be multiplied by an “eciency fac-
tor”. In order to produce the necessary drag, Lindzen-style
schemes require eciency factors that are small compared
to unity (Hamilton, 1997).
Note that the vertical evolution of wave spectra is entirely
described by Eqs. (1) – (5) in terms of the vertical wavenum-
Note that our choice of a xed characteristic value for kh
wavenumber have lower intrinsic frequencies. This is dic-
tated by the hyperbolic form of the relation between m and
sic frequency !ˆ = Nkh =m.
It should also be noted that in Eqs. (1) – (6) we have
adopted a convenient (but nonstandard) convention, in
which the sign of m does not re
phase speed c − u.  This convention is permitted by the
midfrequency dispersion relation, i.e. it follows from Eq.
(4) that “extrawaves” with c − u ¿ 0 have m ¿ 0, while
“intrawaves” with c − u ¡ 0 are characterized by m ¡ 0. To
ensure that the vertical group velocity is directed upward,
i.e. cgz = −Nkh =m2R ¿ 0 (the only case which produces
momentum deposition in the middle atmosphere), we also
adopt the convention that kh ¡ 0 throughout this paper. It
is seen from Eq. (6) that the sign of the drag then coincides
with the sign of (c − u).
 This particular sign convention is
convenient for coding purposes, but of course Eqs. (1) – (6)
can be readily adapted to other sign conventions.
MK95 have shown that gravity wave saturation in the at-
mosphere typically occurs in the range  ≈ 1 to 3. Together
with Eq. (2) this implies mR ≈ (1:1 to 1:3)m. Therefore, for
purposes of wave drag parameterization, the systematic non-
linear Doppler shift created by spectral components with
higher vertical wavenumber can be neglected, and mR can
be replaced by the “linear” vertical wavenumber m every-
where in Eqs. (1) – (6). This matter will be discussed further
in Section 4. Numerical calculations which quantify the con-
ber mR alone (a simplication allowed by the midfrequency sequences incurred by neglecting nonlinear Doppler shifts
dispersion relation), while the intensity of wave drag ah (mR ) in the calculation of wave drag are given in Section 6.
is proportional to kh . Although the MK95 theory is su-
ciently general to permit diering values of kh for individual
3. Numerical implementation
wave components, we have found that the constant kh case is
capable of producing very realistic middle atmosphere circu-
For numerical purposes, we convert the continuous input
lations. For the present purposes, it is therefore sucient to
source PSD S to a discrete spectrum consisting of M har-
consider the simplest case where kh enters only as a scaling
monics 2 according to
factor for the momentum deposition. This assumption re-
stricts the number of tunable parameters associated with the hUj2 i = Sj
mj ;
initial spectrum, and, with a suitable choice of kh , allows one
where
mj = mj+1 − mj denes the discretization of the
to exclude from the launch spectrum high-frequency waves
spectrum, and j is the index of a given harmonic. A suitable
that might be re
ected downward. A nonhydrostatic disper-
choice for
mj will be given in Section 6. Once the initial
sion relation such as that used by Alexander the Dunkerton
mj has been assigned for the harmonic, it may be uniquely
(1999) would have to be invoked to properly predict wave
identied by its observed horizontal phase speed c, which

1 The horizontal wavevector k =k x̂+k ŷ is used in recognition 2 We will use the word “harmonic” to denote a discrete compo-
h x y
of the possibility that waves may not necessarily be aligned in the nent with a particular observed vertical phase speed, which is not
x̂ (i.e. zonal) direction. necessarily constrained to integer multiples of a fundamental mode.
 A.S. Medvedev, G.P. Klaassen / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 62 (2000) 1015–1033 1019

is conserved during vertical propagation under assumptions spectra with height and the corresponding wave momen-
of horizontally homogeneous steady ow. The horizontal tum deposition. The procedure starts from the lowest level
velocity uctuations of the jth harmonic are where the source spectral distribution hUj2 (zs )i is specied.
At each vertical step, the component GW velocity variances
Uj = Re{Û j ei }; (7)
j2 , parameters j and nonlinear damping rates ÿj are calcu-
where (x; t) is the wave phase, the latter being a func- lated using Eqs. (8) and (5) for every harmonic, beginning
tion of time t and the usual Cartesian coordinate vector with the highest mj , i.e. with j = M . Then the vertical
x = (x; y; z). In accordance with the convention adopted in wavenumbers mj , averaged squared wave amplitudes hUj2 i
MK95, the angle brackets introduced above R 2denote twice and wave drag Ah can be found at the next vertical level zi
the average over , namely hf()i ≡ 1= 0 f d. Thus from Eqs. (11), (10) and (12), respectively, MK95 showed
∗
hUj2 i = Û j Û j = |Û j |2 , the squared amplitude of the jth har- that the instability threshold for a wave harmonic in the
3
monic. (The asterisk denotes a complex conjugate.) Then, presence of a broad spectrum is j2 6 1=2. Harmonics
the total horizontal velocity variance 2 and the parameter meeting this criterion, which is equivalent to cj − u = j ,
 in Eq. (3) are calculated as follows: break and deposit their momentum. This eectively re-
moves harmonics slightly before they reach the “linear”
X
M
N
j2 = hUn2 i; j = √ ; (8) critical levels cj − u = 0 of Lindzen-type schemes. Further
n=j 2mj j comparisons with parameterizations based on convectively
unstable saturation are given in Section 7.
where j=1 and M are harmonics with the lowest and highest
vertical wavenumbers in the spectrum, respectively.
The solution of the discretized counterpart of Eq. (1) has
the form (cf. Eq. (27) in MK95) 4. Physical properties
 Z z 
2 2 0s mj 0 0 In this section, we discuss the physical properties of the
hUj (z)i = hUj (zs )i exp − ÿj (z ) d z ; (9)
0 mjs zs MK95 theory for nonlinear interactions in broad gravity
where subscript s denotes the values at the source level zs . wave spectra, as well as approximations we have applied in
If the vertical coordinate is discretized, and if the source the construction of a practical GWD parameterization. We
spectrum hUj2 i is known at some height, Eq. (9) can be also discuss the relationship of MK95 to the Lindzen (L81)
integrated upward step-by-step as follows: and Hines (H97) schemes.
Consider a test wave of vertical wavenumber mj propa-
0 (zi−1)mj (zi) gating in concert with a broad spectrum of waves. In the
hUj2 (zi)i=hUj2 (zi−1)i exp[−ÿj (zi−1=2)
zi ];
0 (zi)mj (zi−1) MK95 theory, this test wave interacts with waves of similar
(10) and smaller vertical scale, that are also evolving on similar
where
zi is the grid interval between the higher level zi and slower time scales. 4 As a matter of convenience, our
and lower level zi−1 , and zi−1=2 denotes the half-level be- parameterization is formulated for waves of xed horizon-
tween zi−1 and zi . In Eq. (10) the apparent “linear” verti- tal wavenumber kh , so that the relevant portion of the back-
cal wavenumber mj of the harmonic with a given kh and ground is composed of waves with m ¿ mj , i.e. a “ragged
observed phase velocity c varies with height according to background” of similar and smaller scale waves possessing
Eq. (4), following variations of the background wind u and similar and lower frequencies. The net eects of nonlinear
Brunt–Vaisala frequency N , interactions with the “ragged background” are damping of
the test wave and the shifting of its frequency. We will pro-
N (zi )
mj (zi ) = : (11) vide arguments that the nonlinear (i.e. spectrum-induced)
c − u(zi ) frequency shifts may be neglected for the practical purpose
The “nonlinear” spectrum-induced Doppler shift of the ver- of calculating wave drag.
tical wavenumber can be calculated from Eq. (2), although In Lindzen-type schemes, individual harmonics begin to
in practice it may be neglected. decay when they overturn, i.e. when they induce supera-
Integration and discretization of Eq. (6) yields an expres- diabatic temperature lapse rates. The criterion for over-
sion for total wave drag: turning instability of a monochromatic wave of amplitude
Z ∞ Û in a constant background ow u may be expressed as
XM
ÿ j kh 2
Ah = ah (m0 ) dm0 = − hUj i: (12) |Û | ¿ |c − u|
 (Fritts, 1984) or equivalently, in terms of the
0 j=1
mj

Together, Eqs. (8), (10), (11), (5) and (12) represent a 4 It is unclear how to treat interactions with more rapidly os-
closed set of equations for calculating the evolution of
cillating harmonics, but presumably these are transient and per-
haps less signicant than interactions with slowly varying waves.
3 Note that in other conventions the variance is sometimes de- The latter may be eectively considered as an enhancement of the
ned as hUj2 i = 12 |Û j |2 . steady background ow.
1020 A.S. Medvedev, G.P. Klaassen / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 62 (2000) 1015–1033

Fig. 1. (a) Conceptual illustration of a test wave (solid curve) with phase speed c = 16 m s−1 propagating through a “ragged” small-scale
wave background that is slowly varying in time (dotted curve). (b) The RMS wind for the test wave alone (solid curve) and the test wave
plus small-scale background (dotted curve). Both the instantaneous (oscillatory) wave elds and the corresponding  proles (exponential
“envelopes”) are shown. For simplicity, the mean wind u = 0. According to L81, the test wave would independently achieve convective
instability and saturate at z = 70 km, where the wave amplitude matches its phase speed (vertical dash– dot line). According to the MK95
theory, the wave would be obliterated by strong instabilities if the total  (test wave plus background) → c, as it does near z = 63 km.
Nonlinear damping in the MK95 theory is usually strong enough to cause saturation of the test wave in the range c=4 6  6 c=2, indicated
by the thick dashed bar between z ∼ 45 and 55 km.

monochromatic Froude number small-scale shear deforms parcels and parcel paths, lead-
  ing to gradual dissipation of the coherent wave motion. It
|mÛ |  Û 
F1 ≡ ≡  ; (13) should also be recognized that when m exceeds N , one
N (c − u) 
expects patches of convective instability to form where the
as F1 ¿ 1. Owing to the polarization relations for a small-scale buoyancy uctuations locally overcome the sta-
monochromatic gravity wave, the threshold m = N corre- ble background stratication and overturn the uid.
sponds to vertical gradients of the wave temperature eld In the basic L81 scheme, the damping rate is imposed ac-
that are suciently strong to locally cancel the stable back- cording to the assumption that the wave amplitude saturates,
ground stratication. Recall that the threshold amplitudes thereby osetting the eects of background stratication and
for convective and dynamic Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities mean wind shear. In contrast, the MK95 theory provides an
of internal gravity waves are virtually identical if the eects explicit formula for the damping rate ÿ which is a function
of rotation can be neglected (Fritts, 1984). of the wave eld itself (the spectral variance 2 ) as well as
In the MK95 theory, the corresponding criterion is  → background ow and stratication parameters. Furthermore,
 where the spectral variance 2 dened in Eqs. (3)
|c − u|, damping due to nonlinear wave–wave interactions is found
and (8) includes the test wave amplitude Û j itself (as the to be non-zero for suboverturning wave amplitudes and in-
rst component). As illustrated conceptually in Fig. 1, this creases as  → |c − u|, i.e. as the spectral Froude number
superposition of the test wave and the “ragged” smaller-scale Fr → 1, or equivalently as the instability parameter
background leads to locally enhanced wave amplitudes and c−u 1 1
wave shear. This in turn drives the spectral Froude number = √ =√ → √ :
2 2Fr 2
|m|  The approximate vertical damping rate ÿ for the kinetic en-
Fr ≡ ≡ (14)
N |c − u| ergy of a test wave of vertical wavenumber m is given in
toward unity (i.e. toward “overturning”), and leads to in- the MK95 parameterization by Eq. (5). Inverting Eq. (3) to
creased damping of the test wave. Since m is a statisti- obtain m as a function of  allows us to rewrite Eq. (5) as
cal measure of the velocity shear associated with the high √
ÿ=m = 2  exp(−2 ); (15)
wavenumber portion of the spectrum, one would expect on
physical grounds that increasing m would enhance instabil- where the quantity ÿ=m corresponds to the vertical damping
ity and hence momentum deposition. In eect, this complex rate normalizd by the vertical wavenumber. Fig. 2 shows
 A.S. Medvedev, G.P. Klaassen / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 62 (2000) 1015–1033 1021

damping rate, namely

 
ÿ 1 √
= √ = 2e−1=2 ≈ 1:51;
m 2
is very strong. In the absence of Doppler shifting or density
changes, the PSD will decay as S(z0 + z) ∼ S(z0 )e−ÿz .
Over a distance of one vertical wavelength  = 2=m, a PSD
subjected to ÿ=m = 1:51 will decay to
S(z0 + ) = S(z0 )e−2ÿ=m ≈ S(z0 )e−9:48 ≈ S(z0 )=13 100:
This√corresponds to the wave amplitude dropping by a factor
of 13 100 ≈ 115 over one vertical wavelength. Clearly,
the dierence between the exact and approximate formulae
√
may be eectively minimized by testing for  6 1= 2 and,
ow. This is in fact what is done in our implementation of
Fig. 2. Comparison of the exact (ÿexact =m: solid curve) and approx-
imate (ÿ=m: dashed curve) vertical damping rates for the MK95
theory of nonlinear gravity-wave interactions. The vertical dotted
line marks the value  = 2−1=2 .
√ with the behaviour of the exact MK95 theory.
that ÿ=m achieves a maximum value for  = 1= 2, which
corresponds to the overtuning value for a single harmonic. A
if satised, depositing the wave’s momentum to the mean
the scheme. We note that this eectively removes waves
from the spectrum somewhat before the altitude at which
a linear critical level corresponding to  = 0 would occur.
By using the approximate formula (5), and depositing √ the
momentum associated with harmonics having  6 1 2, we
may avoid the evaluation of the computationally expensive
error function in Eq. (16), while retaining good agreement
In principle, the approximate theory permits  → 0, which
corresponds to a linear critical layer approach for the wave,
standard Lindzen scheme, on the other hand, imposes a nite
background-related
√ damping once the harmonic achieves
 6 1= 2.
It is instructive to compare the approximate formula (15)
with the exact MK95 theory, which gives
where c − u → 0 and m → ∞. It may appear from Fig.
2 that the damping rate ÿ for the approximate theory van-
ishes in such a classic critical layer approach. However, one
must remember that for a critical layer approach, the verti-
cal wavenumber of the test wave m → ∞. The behaviour
of ÿ in the limit  → 0 can be elucidated by introducing the
er() characteristic wavenumber
ÿexact = ÿ : (16)
[er2 () − 1]1=2
mc = N=: (18)
It can be seen from Fig. 2 that the approximate ÿ=m rapidly The generalized spectral Richardson number (neglecting
approaches the exact value for  signicantly larger than contributions from the wave buoyancy) may then be written
unity.
√ The principal dierence is that ÿexact =m → ∞ at  = as
1= 2, while√the approximate ÿ=m remains nite. Thus, the
value  = 1= 2 corresponds in the exact theory to a violent
instability which immediately dissipates the wave. We note
that the exact theory also includes a nonlinear Doppler shift,
given by
√ 2
mexact
Ri ≡ N 2 =2 m2 = (mc =m)2 = 22 : (19)
Note that Ri is equivalent to the squared inverse of the spec-
tral Froude number Fr introduced earlier in Eq. (14). From
Eq. (19) it is clear that mc is the wavenumber for√which the
spectral Richardson number Ri = 1 (and  = 1= 2), corre-
R = m e− [er2 () − 1]1=2 ;
uctuations
√
which yields mR → 0 as  → 1= 2. Since the damping rate
ÿexact =m → ∞ at the same time, waves are subjected to large
uid. (Note that the critical Ri for convective
dissipation rates and deposit the major portion of their mo-
(17) sponding to waves which undergo strong nonlinear interac-
tions within the spectrum. For Ri ¡ 1, buoyancy
in the spectrum are suciently strong to cause local regions
of overturned
instability would be zero if gradients of wave temperature
mentum before their vertical wavelength becomes innite.
uctuations were included in its denition.)
At larger values of , where waves may persist due to the With these denitions we may cast Eq. (15) into the form
smaller damping rates, the corresponding nonlinear Doppler √
ÿ=mc = 2 exp(− 12 Ri): (20)
shifts are small enough to produce negligible contributions
to wave drag. This will be demonstrated later in Section 6. If the test wavenumber m
mc , then Ri1 and the wave
Although the approximate
√ formula gives a nite vertical will not experience signicant damping. On the other hand,
damping rate at  = 1= 2, it should be recognized that this for a wave which is Doppler shifted so that m → mc , the
1022 A.S. Medvedev, G.P. Klaassen / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 62 (2000) 1015–1033

to immediate obliteration. The ratio in Eq. (22) may be re-

garded as the minimum Richardson number in the spectrum
(i.e. the Richardson number associated with the maximum
vertical wavenumber). For stratospheric cases, a value of
1=2 = 2:4 yields a local spectral slope of approximately
−2:7 at vertical wavenumbers near mmax , while a value of
11.5 yields a local spectral slope of −2:3. Mesospheric cases
tend to yield shallower slopes (Hines, 1993). H97 therefore
recommends a value of 1=2 lying in the range
mDSP
c 1
= = 2:5 to 10;
mmax 2
with a particular value of 1=2 ≈ 3 found to be suitable
in the modelling study of Mengel et al. (1995). Owing to
the dierent denition of the spectral amplitude DSP , it is
Fig. 3. Vertical damping rate ÿ normalized by the “characteris-
tic” wavenumber mc = N=. Note that the horizontal coordinate
mc =m = Ri1=2 = 21=2 .
not possible to place a specic line representing the cuto
wavenumber for Hines DSP in Fig. 3. It is possible to say
that the smaller value for mDSP
c in Hines DSP would tend
to move the DSP cuto line toward the left. Thus, Hines
preferred value of 2 ≈ 0:3 would fall somewhat to the
left of the line mc =m = 0:3 in Fig. 3. The DSP damping
rate is innite to the left of that line, while waves on the
Richardson number Ri → 1, and nonlinear interactions will right propagate conservatively. By way of comparison, the
lead to strong damping of this particular harmonic. During Lindzen parameterization species a nite damping rate ÿ =
a critical level approach m → ∞, Ri → 0 and  → 0. As 1=H (for a windless √case) once the wave has overturned (i.e.
shown in Fig. 3, ÿ=mc → 2:51 in this limit. From our previ- at mc =m = 1 or  = 1 2), and ÿ = ∞ at a linear critical level
ous discussion it is clear that this damping rate is extremely (where mc =m = 0).
large, and in fact causes wave amplitude to decay by a fac- Further insight into the MK95 theory may be gained
tor of about 2400 over a vertical distance of 2=mc . Thus, by assuming that the wave spectrum consists of a general
for practical purposes, harmonics √ may be considered to be Desaubies spectrum of the form
immediately damped once  6 1= 2. (m=m∗ )s N2
The particular form of ÿ in Eq. (20) also serves to clar- S(m) = S0 ; S0 = A ; (23)
1 + (m=m∗ )s+t m3∗
ify the relationship with the Doppler spread parameteriza-
tion (DSP) of Hines (H97). DSP stipulates the form of the where m∗ is the characteristic wavenumber which describes
low-wavenumber portion of the spectrum below the “knee” the transition between spectral forms at large and small m
(i.e. m ¡ m∗ ) to be S(m) ˙ ms , with the recommended (the “knee”), and the parameter t denes the power law for
form having s = 1. At each altitude, a high wavenumber the high-wavenumber tail (i.e. for m ¿ m∗ the PSD asymp-
“cuto” is computed and that portion of the spectrum with totes to m−t behaviour). Observations of saturated spectra
m ¿ mmax = 2 (N=DSP ) where dictate the tail value t = 3 and, for the purposes of this sec-
Z mmax tion, we assume the modied Desaubies form with s = 1.
2
DSP = S(m0 ) dm0 (21) The constant A is determined from observational data to be
0 A ≈ 1=6 by Smith et al. (1987) and A ≈ 1=8 by Fritts and
is immediately obliterated and its momentum deposited. The VanZandt (1993). 5 Given Eq. (23) with s = 1 and t = 3, the
constant 2 represents a tuning parameter which re
ects un- spectral variance j2 contained in the vertical wavenumber
certainty in the value of the cuto. It is important to recog- interval [mj ; ∞] is
nize that the characteristic wavenumber has a signicantly Z ∞ Z
AN 2 ∞ m0 =m∗
dierent formulation in DSP: namely mDSP = N=DSP . Here j2 = S(m0 ) dm0 = 3 dm0 (24)
c
mj m∗ mj 1 + (m0 =m∗ )4
DSP is calculated from the variance over the entire spec-
trum, which includes large amplitude, low-m waves that "  2 #
are excluded from  and mc as dened in MK95. Thus, in N2  mj
=A 2 − arctan : (25)
practice mDSP
c is signicantly smaller than the correspond- 2m∗ 2 m∗
ing MK95 value of mc . In the context of Fig. 3, Hines’ DSP
would subject all waves falling to the left of a vertical line
5 Note that Fritts and VanZandt (1993) specify a slightly dierent
representing
normalization equivalent to A = 4=10 = 0:127 ≈ 1=8 (see their
mDSP
c =mmax = 1=2 (22) Eqs. (1), (2) and (22)).
 A.S. Medvedev, G.P. Klaassen / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 62 (2000) 1015–1033 1023

Then, for the harmonic with wavenumber mj , the instability

parameter
√
N 1= A
j = √ = : (26)
2mj  (mj =m∗ ) [=2 − arctan(mj =m∗ )2 ]1=2

For the high-wavenumber tail in which√ mj =m∗ 1, this for-

mula asymptotes to the value j → 1= A. Thus, the asymp-
totic instability parameter for high-m waves is related to
the overall spectral amplitude. Over the observed range of
1=10 ¡ A ¡ 1=2, the asymptotic values of j range from 3.2
to 1.4, corresponding to

j ∼ (0:22 to 0:5)|c − u|:

This implies that a broad spectrum saturates at am-

plitudes far below the usual overturning criterion for
non-interacting monochromatic waves. The correspond-
ing damping rates lay in the range 0:00041 ¡ ÿ=m ¡ 0:7 Fig. 4. The instability parameter j for the jth harmonic mj in a
(see Fig. 2). Thus, a rather broad range of MK95 damp- Desaubies spectrum with s = 1, t = 3 and amplitude A = 1=6. The
ing rates are consistent with “saturated” Desaubies spec- vertical wavenumber mj is normalized by the Desaubies wavenum-
tral tails having m−3 form. For the favoured middle ber m∗ .
atmosphere value A = 1=6, we obtain the asymptotic
value j → 2:45 which corresponds to a damping rate
of ÿ=m ≈ 0:022. For waves at the knee of a spectrum
√ 5. Input source spectra
(mj = m∗ ) with A = 1=6, we obtain ∗ = 2= A ≈
2:76 and ÿ=m ≈ 0:0048, indicating that such waves To apply the parameterization procedure described above,
are damped much more weakly than those in the tail. vertical wavenumber “source” spectra must be specied at
For example, waves subject to the knee damping rate some reference altitude. Since the troposphere is believed to
ÿ=m = 0:0048 lose about 1.5% of their amplitude be a region of strong gravity wave generation, source spec-
over a distance of one vertical wavelength, whereas
those subject to the “tail” value ÿ=m = 0:022 lose
about 7%.
As shown in Fig. 4, j grows rapidly as the wavenumber
mj =m∗ → 0, indicating that the low-wavenumber por-
tion of the spectrum (below the “knee”) will continue to
grow in amplitude as it propagates upward. Waves with
wavenumbers slightly lower than m∗ therefore experience
gradually increasing values of damping as they propagate
upward. Eventually, an equilibrium is reached, and their
amplitudes saturate. At this point, they become part of
tra are most conveniently specied at some level above the
tropopause. Observational studies have provided a number
of estimates of amplitudes and spectral shapes as well as
their variability. However, these studies were mainly con-
cerned with the behaviour of the high-m tail of spectra which
is aected by saturation processes, whereas harmonics grow-
ing with height in the unsaturated portion of spectrum are
most important for GW momentum deposition at higher al-
titudes.
The problem of estimating vertical wavenumber source
spectra from observations is nontrivial because these spec-
the “tail” spectrum and m∗ moves to lower values. This
process was demonstrated in MK95 (see Fig. 3), and is
considered√ further in Section 8. If, on the other hand,
j → 1= 2 ≈ 0:71; corresponding to rapid instabilities
associated with overturning and other processes, the wave
will experience damping sucient to cause obliteration as
it propagates a fraction of its vertical wavelength. Thus,
we see that the simple formulae that constitute the MK95
theory contain the essential physics of wave damping,
tra characterize wave elds over a range of altitudes, and
hence they cannot be attributed to a particular height zs .
In the presence of vertically inhomogeneous gravity wave
sources in the lower atmosphere, instantaneous m-spectra are
expected to be highly variable in time, space and wavenum-
ber. A model spectrum which approximates the typical am-
plitude and shape of observed PSDs is given by Eq. (23)
(see Fritts and VanZandt, 1993 for further discussion). The
lower m portion of the spectrum is believed to vary gener-
namely Doppler shifting by the background wind, critical ally from s = 0 (“Desaubies” spectrum) to s = 1 (“Modied
level approaches, rapid dissipation associated with wave Desaubies”). It should be noted that the uncertainty in this
overturning, and enhanced dissipation due to nonlinear portion of the spectrum ultimately derives from the vertical
interactions within a broad wave spectrum. As demon-
strated in MK95, it is capable of reproducing the spectral
form and altitude dependence of observed gravity wave
spectra.
ecting the
variation of background elds, e.g. the density scale height
is on the same order as the vertical wavelengths associated
with waves in this portion of the spectrum. The charac-
teristic wavenumber m∗ increases in altitude, re
1024 A.S. Medvedev, G.P. Klaassen / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 62 (2000) 1015–1033

entrance of waves with increasingly lower-m into the pro-

cesses of dissipation and saturation.
Constraints for source spectra can be obtained by equat-
ing the observed asymptotic form of Eq. (23) for mm∗ ;
namely S(m) → S0 (m∗ =m)t to the observed form
S(m) = N 2 =(2 to 10)m3 : (27)
The form of Eq. (27) automatically constrains the parameter
t to the value 3, which we adopt for the remainder of the
paper. The spectral amplitude S0 is then constrained to the
range
N2
S0 = : (28)
(2 to 10)m3∗
The values of m∗ observed in the troposphere typically vary
from m∗ = 2=2:5 rad km−1 to 2=900 rad m−1 (Allen and
Vincent, 1995; Fritts and Chou, 1987; Tsuda et al., 1991). Fig. 5. Desaubies (s = 0) and modied Desaubies (s = 1) model
An example of two such model spectra with m∗ = 2=∗ = vertical wavenumber spectra for m∗ = 2= = 0:006 rad m−1 and
0:006 rad m−1 ; s = 0; 1 are shown in Fig. 5. However, we S0 = 50 m3 s−2 . The tail exponent t = 3 in both cases.
must keep in mind that the Desaubies form represents aver-
aged observations, and that individual spectra observed in
the lower atmosphere generally have a more complicated
form. There are also indications that the lower-m portion
consists of several peaks representing a systematic “global”
wave source in the lower atmosphere (Weinstock, 1996).
Although such features are undeniably important for the
purposes of wave drag parameterization, unfortunately the
details of source spectra variability are not well known.
However, the model distributions presented in Fig. 5 are
suciently representative for the purpose of examining
the sensitivity to the observed range of source spectra. In
the following section we will examine the sensitivity of
the drag prole to the choices of s = 0; 1, as well as to S0 .

6. Calculations for typical wind proÿles and source

spectra

In this section we examine the response of the proposed

parameterization scheme to dierent mean wind proles and
variations of the source spectrum. We have chosen two ◦
mean wind and mean temperature proles from the CIRA-86
model (50◦ N and 50◦ S in January), which may be con-
sidered as representative of winter and summer solstices.
The temperature is used to calculate the density in Eq. (10)
and the buoyancy frequency N . The distribution of zonal
Fig. 6. Mean zonal wind for January at 50 N (solid line) and
◦
50 S (dashed line) latitudes from the CIRA-86 model used in the
parameterization tests.
models. Wave source spectra of the form described above
mean wind u is shown in Fig. 6. The winter prole exhibits were specied in the troposphere at z = 10 km. All results
two eastward jets, one in the troposphere (with maximum presented below were obtained by assuming a characteristic
∼20 m s−1 ) and the other in the stratosphere (∼ 45 m s−1 ), horizontal wavenumber kh =−2=300 rad km−1 and source
and a reversal in the mesosphere. The summer prole shows
the eastward tropospheric jet (∼ 20 m s−1 ), the westward
stratospheric jet with peak value ∼ 68 m s−1 and a further
reversal near 90 km.
If not noted otherwise, all calculations in the one-dimen-
sional model were carried out using a vertical gridstep

z = 2 km. This vertical resolution is typical for the mid-
dle atmosphere in many contemporary general circulation
spectra spanning the interval from m = 2=900 rad m−1 to
2=19 rad km−1 . Both characteristics are typical of obser-
vations. In the calculations we consider waves propagating
in both directions with respect to the local wind.
The computational time required for the MK95 scheme
is essentially proportional to the number of harmonics re-
tained in the spectrum. We therefore begin by examining
the sensitivity of the resulting wave drag to spectral reso-
 A.S. Medvedev, G.P. Klaassen / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 62 (2000) 1015–1033 1025

Fig. 8. Distribution of horizontal velocity wave amplitudes

as a function of phase speed for the source spectrum with
S0 = 50 m3 s−2 , s = 1, m∗ = 0:006 rad m−1 , and M = 15 harmon-
ics. Note that
c = N=
m.

◦
Fig. 7. GW drag proles calculated for “winter” conditions (50 N
January) utilizing M = 200, 30, 15 and 5 harmonics in the model This discretization gives equal spacing in log m and can be
spectrum. A modied Desaubies source spectrum with s = 1,
m∗ =0:006 rad m−1 , and amplitude S0 =50 m3 s−2 was employed.
lution. For these tests, we discretize the same source spec-
trum by employing uniform
m-grids with varying numbers
eciently formulated to yield reasonable drag proles in the
upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere. The resulting
wave-amplitude source spectrum for S0 = 50 m3 s−2 ; s = 1;
m∗ = 0:006 rad m−1 , and M = 15, is shown in Fig. 8 as a
function of phase velocity, 6 c. Note that we have mapped
of harmonics. Fig. 7 exhibits wave drag proles obtained the spectral amplitudes onto observed (i.e. Earth-frame)
for the “modied Desaubies” source spectrum (23) with
s = 1; m∗ = 0:006 rad m−1 , and amplitude S0 = 50 m3 s−2 .
For the purposes of these tests, we employ isotropic source
spectra comprising a total of 2M harmonics, equally dis-
tributed in the positive and negative horizontal directions.
The number of harmonics is varied from M = 200, which
phase velocities using the relation c=N=m at the source level.
A discrete wave-amplitude source spectrum of the form pre-
sented in Fig. 8 (with M = 15 harmonics) is used in all the
tests reported below, unless stated otherwise. Note that in
these tests, the parameters S0 , s and m∗ will be varied.
We next consider the behaviour of the parameterization
we regard as an “exact” representation, to M = 5. It is seen scheme when various source strengths S0 are specied.
from the gure that the resulting wave drag is almost indis- Fig. 9a presents proles of gravity wave drag for a “win-
tinguishable for M = 200; 30, and 15 harmonics, while the ter” distribution of mean wind employing the “modied
M = 5 case still provides reasonable accuracy. As a point Desaubies” source spectra (23) with s = 1; t = 3 and
of comparison we note that multiple-Lindzen schemes typi- m∗ = 0:006 rad m−1 approximated by M = 15 harmonics.
cally employ on the order of 10 harmonics. Since the MK95 Proles are shown for S0 = 10; 50, and 100 m3 s−2 . It is
scheme does not incur signicantly larger overhead than a
multiple-Lindzen scheme, it is clearly competitive in terms
of computational eciency.
Most of the gravity wave momentum deposited in the
mesosphere and lower thermosphere originates in the
lower-m=higher-c portion of the source spectrum. In order
ecting the obvious fact that waves with
to provide sucient spectral resolution in this key portion,
while not incurring an excessive amount of computation
for the higher-m=lower-c portion (which only deposits a
modest amount of momentum at lower altitudes), we rec-
ommend the use of variable
m-grids with a discretization
given by ln mj+1 = ln mj + ln r. The ratio between adjacent
wavenumbers, r = mj+1 =mj , is determined by
ln r = (ln mmax − ln mmin )=(M − 1) or; equivalently;
r M −1 = [mmax =mmin ]:
seen from the gure that the factor of ten increase in the
overall spectral amplitude increases the wave drag peak
value from ∼ − 50 to ∼ − 180 m s−1 day−1 , although we
note that the response is not linear. The heights of drag
maxima decrease from ∼ 87 km for S0 = 10 to ∼ 80 km for
S0 = 100 m3 s−2 re
weaker amplitudes generally saturate at higher altitude.
The RMS horizontal wind variance  associated with the
parameterized wave spectra can also be compared qualita-
tively to that deduced from observations. In Fig. 9b we have
plotted  as a function of altitude. At the lower boundary
6 In fact, it is more convenient to label harmonics according to
their horizontal phase speed c, since the latter quantity is conserved
during vertical wave propagation through a horizontally homoge-
neous medium.
1026 A.S. Medvedev, G.P. Klaassen / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 62 (2000) 1015–1033

◦
Fig. 9. Proles of (a) wave drag and (b) horizontal RMS wind calculated for “winter” conditions (50 N, January) using the modied
Desaubies input spectrum (s = 1) with S0 = 10, 50, and 100 m3 s−2 . Other parameters are as in Fig. 8.

(10 km),  associated with the input spectra varies between

0.3 and 1 m s−1 , which is in good accordance with observa-
tions (e.g., Sato, 1994), and with values recommended for
use in gravity wave drag models (e.g., Fritts and Lu, 1993).
In the middle atmosphere the calculated proles exhibit
RMS velocities up to a few tens of m s−1 , which are also
consistent with observations (Tsuda et al., 1994). However,
the RMS wind reaches a maximum near z ∼ 75 km (slightly
below the peaks of momentum deposition) and diminishes
at higher altitudes. Observations, on the other hand, indicate
that  should increase slowly above 60 –70 km (Thorsen
and Franke, 1998). The explanation for this dierence may
be found in the limited range of our spectrum. To produce
stronger parameterized RMS winds at higher altitudes, one
can decrease mmin for the input spectrum. It is natural to an-
ticipate that upon doing so, the peaks in -velocity proles
will
atten, and proles will vary more slowly with height.
However, we have chosen not to explore this further, owing
to the large uncertainty in the form of gravity wave spectra
at lower m.
In the summer hemisphere, strong stratospheric easterlies Fig. 10. Horizontal RMS wind calculated for “summer” conditions
◦
lter out westward travelling gravity waves almost entirely, 50 S using the modied Desaubies input spectrum (s = 1) with
while the tropospheric jet lters out all eastward directed
harmonics with phase velocities below ∼ 20–30 m s−1 . As
a result, only fast harmonics (with low m) can participate
in the momentum deposition. In our calculations the satura-
tion of these waves generally occurs above 90 km. Fig. 10
S0 = 10, 50, and 100 m3 s−2 . Other parameters are as in Fig. 8
for the remaining large-c portion of the spectrum. There-
fore, we expect wave saturation and momentum deposition
in the summer hemisphere to occur somewhat higher than
presents proles of RMS wind for the “summer” wind pro- in the winter hemisphere.
le calculated with the input spectra described above. It is Figs. 11a and b demonstrate the sensitivity of gravity
seen from the gure, that  associated with the spectrum of wave drag to variations in the low-m source spectrum slope
propagating gravity waves does not exceed ∼ 4 m s−1 up to s and to variations in the characteristic vertical wavenum-
∼ 75 km due to the ltering eect of the mean wind. Only ber m∗ of the source spectrum. Both calculations are for
above ∼ 90 km does  become comparable with (c − u)  “winter” conditions, using M = 15 spectral harmonics and
 A.S. Medvedev, G.P. Klaassen / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 62 (2000) 1015–1033 1027

Fig. 11. Wave drag proles calculated for (a) the input source spectra with (s = 1) and (s = 0) with m∗ = 0:006 rad m−1 , and (b) for the
modied Desaubies spectrum (s = 1) with m∗ = 0:006 (solid line) and m∗ = 0:0025 (dashed line). Other parameters are as in Fig. 8.

a source amplitude S0 = 50 m3 s−2 . Fig. 11a presents wave

drag proles obtained for the slopes s = 0 and 1 with
m∗ = 0:006 rad m−1 . As anticipated, the spectrum contain-
ing more energy at lower m (i.e. s = 0) saturates at lower
altitudes and produces more momentum deposition at the
same height than the spectrum with s = 1, for which the am-
plitudes decrease as m → 0. We also note that the additional
energy present at low wavenumbers leads to dramatically
stronger momentum deposition in the lower thermosphere.
Fig. 11b displays wave drag proles calculated for the
s = 1 source spectra with m∗ = 0:006 and 0:0025 rad m−1 .
The wavenumber m∗ characterizes the location of the
spectral “knee”, i.e. the largest vertical wavenum-
ber unaected by wave damping processes. Fig. 11b
clearly demonstrates that source spectra with higher m∗
produce maxima of wave drag at lower altitudes.
All the calculations described above have neglected the
nonlinear Doppler shift produced by the spectrum, i.e.
that specied by Eq. (2). To justify this simplication, we
directly compare results obtained with and without this
Doppler shift. Fig. 12 demonstrates wave drag proles
◦
calculated at 50 N for M = 15 harmonics using source
spectrum with S0 = 50 m3 s−2 and m∗ = 0:006 rad m−1 .
It is seen from the gure that the neglect of nonlinear Fig. 12. Proles of wave drag calculated with (dashed line) and
Doppler shifting results in errors of only a few percent, and without (solid line) accounting for spectrum induced Doppler
◦
is comparable with errors introduced by approximating the
continuous spectrum by a discrete one (see Fig. 7).
7. Comparison with the Lindzen scheme
If the broad spectrum is replaced by a single harmonic, our
GW drag parameterization produces formulae which cor-
respond to generalizations of Lindzen (1981). We should
frequency shift. Proles have been calculated at 50 N for the
source spectrum with the following parameters: S0 = 50 m3 s−2 ,
m∗ = 0:006 rad m−1 , M = 15 harmonics, as in Fig. 8.
note that the approximation of a broad randomly phased
spectrum has been made in the derivation of MK95, and
strictly speaking, the theory does not apply to the case of a
single monochromatic harmonic. Nevertheless, taking this
limit is instructive and yields some important insights re-
1028 A.S. Medvedev, G.P. Klaassen / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 62 (2000) 1015–1033

garding the relation of the nonlinear MK95 scheme to linear

Lindzen-type convective saturation schemes.
The rst step in reducing the MK95 formulae to standard
Lindzen form is to introduce a spectrum consisting of a
single harmonic, so that
S(m) = U02 (m0 )i(m-m0 ) and
Z ∞
2 = S(m) dm = hU02 i; (29)
m0

where m0 is the vertical wavenumber, U0 = Û 0 ei is the hor-

izontal velocity eld and  is the wave phase. Multiplying
both sides of Eq. (1) by (m0 =N )2 , we may rewrite it in the
form
   
d m20 hU02 i m20 hU02 i 0z 2Nz 3m0z
= − − + − ÿ ; Fig. 13. Wave amplitude |Û 0 | (left) and the associated wave drag
dz N2 N2 0 N m0
(30) (right) for a single harmonic with c=25 m s−1 and 2=kh =300 km
propagating through the summer wind prole shown in Fig.
where the ratio within square brackets is equal to (1=22 ). A 6: MK95 scheme (solid line) and Lindzen-type parameteriza-
signicant property of our nonlinear theory of wave spectra tion with breaking thresholds (i) break = 2−1=2 , (ii) break = 1,
is that under saturation conditions, the parameter  becomes (iii) break = 21=2 , and (iv) break = 2.
a very slow function of the intrinsic vertical wavenumber
m0 and mean wind shear and typically lies between 1 and 3
(see Section 4). Thus, if we assume  = sat = constant, the We must emphasize that the fully nonlinear broad-spectrum
term on the left-hand side of Eq. (30) must vanish. Using MK95 scheme can yield appreciably dierent behaviour
the relation mz =m ≈ Nz =N + mu z =N and assuming Nz =N = 0 from a Lindzen scheme owing to interactions with the
as Lindzen did, we then obtain rest of the spectrum. Even the monochromatic version of
  MK95 includes nonlinear self-interactions 7 which allow
0z 3m0 u z wave damping and saturation to occur over a broad range
ÿsat = − + :
0 N of . As we shall see, unlike L81 wherein the wave break-
ing onsets abruptly, our scheme produces more gradual
Substitution of this “saturated” value of ÿ together with the
wave damping which onsets below L81 breaking levels.
“saturated” horizontal velocity variance hU02 i = N 2 =sat
2
2m20 ,
These fundamental dierences are illustrated in Fig. 13,
into Eq. (12) yields
  which compares proles of wave amplitude and associated
kh N 2 0z 3m0 u z drag given for a single monochromatic GW harmonic by
AL81 = − 2 − + : (31)
sat 2m30 0 N the nonlinear MK95 and a generalized version of the L81
parameterization employing sat = 1 and various break-
This drag formula reduces to standard Lindzen form in-
ing criteria (break ). The example shown is for a harmonic
cluding wind shear (e.g. Holton, 1982) if sat = 1. Thus, if
with phase velocity c = 25 m s−1 , horizontal wavelength
the spectrum consists of one harmonic, and sat is xed at
2=kh = 300 km, propagating through the CIRA mean
some value (i.e. all nonlinear self-interactions which require
wind and temperature distributions for January at latitude
variable  are excluded), our parameterization reduces to a ◦
50 S, calculated with vertical resolution
z = 200 m. As
straightforward generalization of Lindzen’s (1981) scheme.
expected, Fig. 13a shows that as the parameter break is
The choice of dierent sat corresponds either to dierent sat-
decreased (eectively increasing the overturning threshold
uration amplitudes, or, alternatively, to dierent “eciency”
amplitude), wave growth with height ceases at progressively
factors. We note, however, that the usual convective over-
turning threshold invoked in a Lindzen-type scheme may be
written as |Û 0 | = |c − u|,
 which corresponds to
√ √
break = (c − u)= 2|Û 0 | = 1= 2:
2 2
Equating sat to break , expression (31) then yields twice
the drag derived by L81. Consequently, this linearized
monochromatic version of MK95 cannot simultaneously
match the breaking altitude and the drag derived by L81.
Since the drag formula of L81 is generally applied with
an eciency factor anyway, this discrepancy is of little
practical importance.
higher altitudes. 8 The prole calculated with the overturn-√
ing instability threshold |Û 0 | = |c − u|
 [i.e. break = 1= 2,
denoted by (i)] corresponds to the original L81 scheme.
Owing to nonlinear self-interactions and variable , the
7 These “self-interactions” may also be regarded as representing
interactions between waves in the band mj ±
mj =2.
8 Strict saturation yielding constant amplitude with height does
not occur in this case due to interaction with the mean wind through
the second term in Eq. (1); i.e., as the critical level is approached, m
and the associated wave damping both increase. The linear critical
level for this harmonic occurs at an altitude of about 95 km.
 A.S. Medvedev, G.P. Klaassen / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 62 (2000) 1015–1033 1029

Fig. 14. Horizontal RMS wind (a) and wave drag (b) for the GW spectrum of Fig. 8 propagating through the winter prole shown in
Fig. 6: nonlinear MK95 scheme (solid line), noninteracting MK95 scheme (MK95 SIO), and multiple L81 scheme with breaking thre-
2
sholds break 2
= 1=2 (labelled just by L81) and break = 2.

monochromatic MK95 wave amplitude (solid curve) ceases the wave drag proles grow more smoothly with height. In
growth at a lower altitude than the L81 case. By choosing principle, even a rather small amplitude harmonic could ex-
a value of break corresponding√to the range which occurs perience signicant damping in the presence of other waves
in MK95 (i.e. approximately 2 ¡ break ¡ 2, or Û 0 ≈ in the spectrum which contribute to the RMS wind j .
[0.5 to 0.35]|c − u|),
 we can obtain generalized L81 wave Fig. 14 presents proles of RMS wind and GW drag calcu-
amplitude proles [curves (iii) and (iv)] which correspond lated for “winter” CIRA conditions (see Fig. 6) using a mod-
more closely to the MK95 wave amplitude. However, we ied Desaubies source spectrum of GW (s=1) at the bottom
note that all of the wave drag proles for the generalized (z = 10 km) with S0 = 50 m3 s−2 and m∗ = 0:006 rad m−1 ,
L81 schemes (Fig. 13b) are signicantly dierent from that approximated by M = 15 harmonics (illustrated in Fig. 8).
of the monochromatic MK95 drag prole (solid curve). The The two proles for the multiple-Lindzen case have been
nonlinearity of the MK95 scheme ensures a smooth onset calculated as the sum of contributions from all harmon-
of wave drag with height. In contrast, wave drag onsets ics; each harmonic propagates and saturates indepen-
suddenly (with maximum value) at the overturning altitude dently. The prole labelled “L81” corresponds √ to the
in each of the L81 cases. Such a sudden onset of strong original Lindzen breaking threshold break = 1= 2, while
drag can cause instability problems in atmospheric models that labelled “L81  ∧ 2 = 2”, corresponds √ to a revised
(B. Boville, pers. comm.). In order to diminish this sudden Lindzen breaking threshold break = 2. [In both cases
onset of drag, Lindzen (1988) has considered the possi-
bility of supersaturation of vertically propagating gravity
waves, a process which is associated with the maintenance
of convective instability. Supersaturation would result in a
smoother onset of wave drag, but of course cannot spread
the drag to lower altitudes.
In multiple GW drag parameterizations employed in many
previous studies (Holton, 1983; Garcia and Solomon, 1985)
momentum deposition is assumed to be created by a set of
wave harmonics with dierent phase velocities, each har-
monic propagating and saturating independently according
to L81 criteria. In MK95 we systematically account for non-
linear interactions between harmonics within the spectrum.
Since our instability parameter j depends on the RMS wind
j associated with the higher-m=lower-c portion of the spec-
trum (including the amplitude of the “wave” itself), the al-
we set sat = 1 in Eq. (31)]. The other two proles have
been obtained with the fully nonlinear MK95 scheme, and
a version of MK95 which neglects interactions between
harmonics with dierent m. The latter can be considered as
intermediate between a multiple-Lindzen scheme and the
full MK95 parameterization. In this latter scheme (denoted
as MK95 SIO — “self-interactions only”), the instability
parameter for each harmonic √ depends only on its own am-
plitude, i.e.  = (c − u)= 2|Û 0 |, thereby excluding the
higher-m spectral components from the RMS wind . Fig. 14
demonstrates that the altitude at which wave growth ceases
is lowest for the fully nonlinear MK95. Since GW ampli-
tudes are lower at lower heights, the associated wave drag is
weaker for MK95.
√ The wave drag given by the L81 scheme
with sat = 2 is very similar to that of the non-interacting
MK95 scheme, although the multiple-Lindzen schemes
titudes at which damping and saturation occur are generally both exhibit jagged GWD proles owing to the sudden
lower than in the case of waves which propagate and over- onset of breaking for individual harmonics. Generally, the
turn independently. In addition, as we have demonstrated, nonlinear MK95 schemes produce vertical proles of GW
1030 A.S. Medvedev, G.P. Klaassen / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 62 (2000) 1015–1033

Fig. 15. GW drag spectral density multiplied by phase velocity, Fig. 16. PSD, S(c) (in m2 s−2 =m s−1 ), as a function of height
ah (c)|c| (in m s−1 day−1 ), as a function of height calculated for calculated for windless atmosphere.
windless atmosphere.

drag which vary more gradually, with somewhat weaker
peaks located at lower altitudes than those given by L81.
8. Spectral decomposition of wave drag
der to keep the dimensions of the plotted quantity equal
to m s−1 day−1 . This enhances contributions from large
c while maintaining the sign of ah (c). Numerically, the
quantity |c|Ah (c)=
c is plotted here, where
c is the dis-
cretization in phase velocity space. The source spectrum
was taken to be in modied Desaubies form (23) with
In previous sections we have considered the net or inte- s = 1; S0 = 50 m3 s−2 , and m∗ = 0:006 rad m−1 , as in
grated momentum deposition and RMS wind produced by many calculations shown in this paper. Assuming, N =
the entire spectrum. GW drag proles strongly depend on
both the details of the source spectra and the vertical distri-
bution of the background wind. Generally, details regarding
ux u0 w0 (which is
the spectral composition of GW sources in the lower atmo-
sphere are not well known. Therefore, in this section we
consider the contributions of individual wave harmonics in
creating GW drag. It is more convenient to present spectral
quantities in terms of horizontal phase velocity c rather than
in terms of the vertical wavenumber m, particularly since
the former parameter is invariant with height if horizontal
inhomogeneities are neglected as in the present treatment.
For all the plots presented in this section, spectral values at
small c are not shown because we have employed GW spec-
tra limited by mmax = 2=900 rad m−1 or cmin ≈ 3 m s−1 .
(This is done since many models have separate orographic
0:02 s−1 , the part of the source spectrum with phase ve-
locities |c| ¿ 3:3 m s−1 has power-spectral density S ˙ m.
In this portion the vertical momentum
proportional to Sm−1 ) is uniformly distributed among the
harmonics. Waves with negative phase velocities deposit
negative momentum, and waves with c ¿ 0 deposit east-
ward momentum. If the spectrum is isotropic and there is
no background wind, as in the case shown, the wave drag
produced by harmonics propagating in opposite directions
cancels, giving nil drag.
Fig. 15 shows that the phase velocity of the harmonic
contributing the strongest wave drag increases with altitude.
As seen in Fig. 16, the phase speed of the largest amplitude
waves also increases with height. The harmonic with max-
imum amplitude at a given altitude represents the “knee”
GWD schemes.) The fastest harmonic in our source spec-
trum corresponds to cmax = N=mmin ≈ 60 m s−1 , where
mmin = 2=19 rad km−1 is the minimum vertical wavenum-
uctuations scale with the PSD at m = m∗
ber. In order to provide adequate resolution of the spectral
decomposition presented in this section, we discretize the
spectrum with constant
c and 100 harmonics (50 each in
the eastward and westward directions).
Phase velocity vs. altitude cross-sections of wave drag
spectral density multiplied by the absolute value of phase
velocity, |c|ah (c), and PSD S(c) for a windless atmosphere,
are shown in Figs. 15 and 16, respectively. Since ah is a
spectral density, we present |c|ah (c) instead of ah (c) in or-
of the modied Desaubies spectrum, and divides the low c
“saturated” portion from the high c “unsaturated” part. The
RMS velocity
or c = c∗ , growing with height as exp(z=HE ), where HE ≈
18 km according to Fig. 16. This energy scale height is in
good agreement with estimates from observations (Smith
et al., 1987) giving HE ∼ 14–21 km, with the most likely
estimate HE ≈ 2:3H , where H is the density scale height.
Our calculations using data from Fig. 16 also show that
m∗ = N=c∗ ˙ exp(−z=H∗ ) with a characteristic scale height
H∗ ≈ 25 km. Smith et al. (1987) give H∗ = 2 HE , with a
corresponding range of HE ∼ 28– 42 km.
 A.S. Medvedev, G.P. Klaassen / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 62 (2000) 1015–1033
Fig. 17. Phase velocity–altitude cross-section of GW drag multi-
plied by phase velocity, ah (c) × |c| (in m s−1 day−1 ), calculated
◦
for “winter” conditions (50 N, January, CIRA-86).
Fig. 17 shows phase velocity-altitude cross-sections of
wave drag, cah (c), calculated for “winter” conditions (Jan-
◦
uary, 50 N, CIRA-86) with the same source spectrum used
in the previous “windless” case. The background wind sig-
1031
Fig. 18. Ratio R = =(c − u)  as function of phase velocity c
◦
and altitude, calculated for “winter” conditions (50 N, January,
CIRA-86).
closeness of the RMS wind associated with GW; , to the
intrinsic phase velocity of √the harmonic,√|c − u|.
 As a re-
minder, R = 1, or break = ( 2R)−1 = 1= 2 corresponds to
the convective breaking criteria utilized by Lindzen (1981).
nicantly alters GW momentum deposition, by gradually l- As seen from the gure, GW with moderate eastward phase
tering out harmonics with c ¿ u as the spectrum propagates speeds break at altitudes below 60 km via critical layer inter-
upward. The eastward (positive) momentum deposited by actions. However, the momentum deposited by these break-
these harmonics is very weak since these waves are ltered ing waves is very small due to the smallness of the wave
out below ≈ 60 km, where their amplitudes are still rela- amplitudes at such low altitudes. The gap near c = 0 rep-
tively small. Above this height, harmonics with c ¡ u satu- resents an absence of waves in the spectrum. Most of the
rate, transferring westward momentum to the mean
ow. As total wave drag above 60 km is caused by GW harmonics at
seen from Fig. 17, only slow harmonics with absolute phase R between 0.3 and 0.5, which translates into  ≈ 2:35 and
velocity less than approximately 10 m s−1 contribute sig- 1.4, correspondingly. This suggests that the main contribu-
nicantly to the main peak of wave drag near z=80 km. The
second (weaker) maximum of wave drag near z ≈ 95 km
is created by faster westward-propagating waves. Compar-
ison with the phase velocity-altitude cross-section of wave
◦
drag for the “summer” wind distribution at 50 S (not shown
here) reveals strong asymmetry in spectral momentum depo-
sition between the two hemispheres. The “summer” strato-
tion to the total wave drag is made by GW harmonics with
amplitudes below the convective breaking criteria R = 1. It
is also seen from Figs. 17 and 18 that the contribution of
waves with R ¿ 0 is negligible above ≈ 60 km.
9. Summary and conclusions
spheric jet entirely lters out harmonics with c ¡ 0, while
the tropospheric westerlies lter out “slow” eastward mov- We have presented a spectral parameterization scheme for
ing waves with c less than approximately 20 m s−1 . As a calculating gravity wave momentum deposition in the mid-
result only “fast” GW penetrate to the upper stratosphere dle atmosphere. The scheme is based on the MK95 theory
and mesosphere, where they deposit signicant momentum of the vertical evolution and saturation of GW spectra.
owing to their large amplitudes. It is worth noting that the The parametrization has been tested using a column model
total wave drag produced by eastward travelling wave har- for representative CIRA86 distributions of mean wind and
monics near the “summer” mesopause is on the same order temperature. Once the vertical wave number spectrum of the
of magnitude as the total drag exerted by the c ¿ 0 portion
of the GW spectrum near the main peak at ≈ 80 km in the
winter hemisphere.
Some additional information on the behaviour of satu-
rated GW spectra can be obtained from Fig. 18, where the
spectral-altitude cross-section of the ratio R = =(c − u)
 is
shown for “winter” conditions. This ratio characterizes the
GW source has been specied, the proposed parameteriza-
tion has only one tunable parameter, namely the character-
istic horizontal wavenumber of subgrid-scale gravity waves
kh . As in other schemes, this parameter serves as an “e-
ciency” scaling factor for wave drag; however, in contrast
to Lindzen schemes which generally require low values of
kh , values characteristic of the dominant portion of the GW
1032 A.S. Medvedev, G.P. Klaassen / Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 62 (2000) 1015–1033
spectrum may be assigned to kh in our GWD scheme. Of
course, further tuning can be accomplished by varying the
source spectra at the lower boundary within observational
limits, e.g. by imposing latitudinal or temporal dependen-
cies. This implicitly characterizes the degree of physical
and theoretical completeness of the MK95 scheme, and em-
phasizes the need for a more extensive knowledge of GW
sources in the lower atmosphere.
For the range of anticipated variability of source spectra
parameters in the troposphere, the scheme produces wave
lytically integrable source spectrum, and obliterates a sub-
stantial portion of the tail spectrum in order to provide the
necessary wave drag. The algorithm proposed here for the
MK95 parameterization requires fewer adjustable parame-
ters, makes only minor approximations relative to the orig-
inal theoretical framework, and has the advantage of track-
ing individual harmonics in the spectrum. This has allowed
us to compare the resulting GW spectrum and RMS wind
to observations, as well as to consider spectral composition
of the net deposited GW momentum. For example, our re-
drag proles as well as RMS horizontal winds due to GW
that are consistent with observations and with theoretical
estimates. Sensitivity tests have shown that for purposes
of GW drag parameterization, the eects of nonlinear
spectrum-induced Doppler shifting derived by MK95 can
be neglected compared to the eects of nonlinear damping
sults show that “slow” GW harmonics with observed phase
velocities c less than ≈10 m s−1 contribute the most to the
total wave drag in the mesosphere, while faster harmonics
are important at higher altitudes.
As with any other successful GW parameterization, pre-
cise tuning of the scheme requires a more detailed speci-
and “linear” Doppler shifting by the background wind. cation of source spectra in the lower atmosphere. MK95
We have demonstrated that our scheme can be viewed has the advantage that all tuning is eectively conned to
as a nonlinear generalization of a multiple-Lindzen-type the specication of the source spectrum. The information
(L81) parameterization. For a broad spectrum of waves, our regarding the spectral composition of the net drag provided
scheme diers from the multiple-Lindzen scheme by ac- by the MK95 scheme can greatly simplify this tuning pro-
counting for nonlinear interactions between harmonics. The cess, and we suggest that other spectral gravity wave drag
wave damping rate for the MK95 scheme varies √ continu- schemes may benet from a similar analysis.
ously with the instability parameter =|c− u|=
 2, where c
is the phase speed, u is the mean wind, and 2 is the spectral
wind variance corresponding to harmonics with similar and Acknowledgements
higher vertical wavenumber. In Lindzen’s approach
√ (L81),
wave breaking occurs abruptly at xed =1= 2, and damp- This research was partially supported by a group Strate-
ing occurs at a rate associated with background
ow param- gic Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Re-
eters. As an example of the
exibility of the MK95 scheme, search Council of Canada and by the Canadian Climate Re-
it can, with only a couple of minor coding changes, be con- search Network of the Atmospheric Environment Service
verted to a standard multiple-Lindzen scheme. Of course, the of Canada. We gratefully acknowledge helpful discussions
inherent nonlinearity of the MK95 scheme ensures gradual with Len Sonmor and Byron Boville. Suggestions from two
wave damping and associated wave drag at heights where anonymous reviewers helped to improve the presentation.
wave amplitudes are below the breaking criterion.
Our tests have shown that the total number of harmonics
representing the spectrum can be reduced to 10 –30 without
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