skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: Accelerating Atmospheric Gravity Wave Simulations Using Machine Learning: Kelvin‐Helmholtz Instability and Mountain Wave Sources Driving Gravity Wave Breaking and Secondary Gravity Wave Generation
Abstract Gravity waves (GWs) and their associated multi‐scale dynamics are known to play fundamental roles in energy and momentum transport and deposition processes throughout the atmosphere. We describe an initial machine learning model—the Compressible Atmosphere Model Network (CAM‐Net). CAM‐Net is trained on high‐resolution simulations by the state‐of‐the‐art model Complex Geometry Compressible Atmosphere Model (CGCAM). Two initial applications to a Kelvin‐Helmholtz instability source and mountain wave generation, propagation, breaking, and Secondary GW (SGW) generation in two wind environments are described here. Results show that CAM‐Net can capture the key 2‐D dynamics modeled by CGCAM with high precision. Spectral characteristics of primary and SGWs estimated by CAM‐Net agree well with those from CGCAM. Our results show that CAM‐Net can achieve a several order‐of‐magnitude acceleration relative to CGCAM without sacrificing accuracy and suggests a potential for machine learning to enable efficient and accurate descriptions of primary and secondary GWs in global atmospheric models.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1759471 2131350 2128443 2032678
PAR ID:
10517648
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ;
Corporate Creator(s):
Editor(s):
NA
Publisher / Repository:
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Geophysical Research Letters
Volume:
50
Issue:
15
ISSN:
0094-8276
Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities gravity wave breaking machine learning
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract We analyze the gravity waves (GWs) from the ground to the thermosphere during 11–14 January 2016 using the nudged HI Altitude Mechanistic general Circulation Model. We find that the entrance, core and exit regions of the polar vortex jet are important for generating primary GWs and amplifying GWs from below. These primary GWs dissipate in the upper stratosphere/lower mesosphere and deposit momentum there; the atmosphere responds by generating secondary GWs. This process is repeated, resulting in medium to large‐scale higher‐order, thermospheric GWs. We find that the amplitudes of the secondary/higher‐order GWs from sources below the polar vortex jet are exponentially magnified. The higher‐order, thermospheric GWs have concentric ring, arc‐like and planar structures, and spread out latitudinally to 10 − 90°N. Those GWs with the largest amplitudes propagate against the background wind. Some of the higher‐order GWs generated over Europe propagate over the Arctic region then southward over the US to ∼15–20°N daily at ∼14 − 24 UT (∼9 − 16 LT) due to the favorable background wind. These GWs have horizontal wavelengthsλH ∼ 200 − 2,200 km, horizontal phase speedscH ∼ 165 − 260 m/s, and periodsτr ∼ 0.3 − 2.4 hr. Such GWs could be misidentified as being generated by auroral activity. The large‐scale, higher‐order GWs are generated in the lower thermosphere and propagate southwestward daily across the northern mid‐thermosphere at ∼8–16 LT withλH ∼ 3,000 km andcH ∼ 650 m/s. We compare the simulated GWs with those observed by AIRS, VIIRS/DNB, lidar and meteor radars and find reasonable to good agreement. Thus the polar vortex jet is important for facilitating the global generation of medium to large‐scale, higher‐order thermospheric GWs via multi‐step vertical coupling. 
    more » « less
  2. Abstract We analyze the gravity waves (GWs) from the ground to the thermosphere during 11–14 January 2016 using the nudged HI Altitude Mechanistic general Circulation Model. We find that the entrance, core and exit regions of the polar vortex jet are important for generating primary GWs and amplifying GWs from below. These primary GWs dissipate in the upper stratosphere/lower mesosphere and deposit momentum there; the atmosphere responds by generating secondary GWs. This process is repeated, resulting in medium to large‐scale higher‐order, thermospheric GWs. We find that the amplitudes of the secondary/higher‐order GWs from sources below the polar vortex jet are exponentially magnified. The higher‐order, thermospheric GWs have concentric ring, arc‐like and planar structures, and spread out latitudinally to 10 − 90°N. Those GWs with the largest amplitudes propagate against the background wind. Some of the higher‐order GWs generated over Europe propagate over the Arctic region then southward over the US to ∼15–20°N daily at ∼14 − 24 UT (∼9 − 16 LT) due to the favorable background wind. These GWs have horizontal wavelengthsλH ∼ 200 − 2,200 km, horizontal phase speedscH ∼ 165 − 260 m/s, and periodsτr ∼ 0.3 − 2.4 hr. Such GWs could be misidentified as being generated by auroral activity. The large‐scale, higher‐order GWs are generated in the lower thermosphere and propagate southwestward daily across the northern mid‐thermosphere at ∼8–16 LT withλH ∼ 3,000 km andcH ∼ 650 m/s. We compare the simulated GWs with those observed by AIRS, VIIRS/DNB, lidar and meteor radars and find reasonable to good agreement. Thus the polar vortex jet is important for facilitating the global generation of medium to large‐scale, higher‐order thermospheric GWs via multi‐step vertical coupling. 
    more » « less
  3. Abstract A companion paper by Fritts et al. reviews evidence for Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (KHI) “tube” and “knot” (T&K) dynamics that appear to be widespread throughout the atmosphere. Here we describe the results of an idealized direct numerical simulation of multiscale gravity wave dynamics that reveals multiple larger- and smaller-scale KHI T&K events. The results enable assessments of the environments in which these dynamics arise and their competition with concurrent gravity wave breaking in driving turbulence and energy dissipation. A larger-scale event is diagnosed in detail and reveals diverse and intense T&K dynamics driving more intense turbulence than occurs due to gravity wave breaking in the same environment. Smaller-scale events reveal that KHI T&K dynamics readily extend to weaker, smaller-scale, and increasingly viscous shear flows. Our results suggest that KHI T&K dynamics should be widespread, perhaps ubiquitous, wherever superposed gravity waves induce intensifying shear layers, because such layers are virtually always present. A second companion paper demonstrates that KHI T&K dynamics exhibit elevated turbulence generation and energy dissipation rates extending to smaller Reynolds numbers for relevant KHI scales wherever they arise. These dynamics are suggested to be significant sources of turbulence and mixing throughout the atmosphere that are currently ignored or underrepresented in turbulence parameterizations in regional and global models. Significance StatementAtmospheric observations reveal that Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities (KHI) often exhibit complex interactions described as “tube” and “knot” (T&K) dynamics in the presence of larger-scale gravity waves (GWs). These dynamics may prove to make significant contributions to energy dissipation and mixing that are not presently accounted for in large-scale modeling and weather prediction. We explore here the occurrence of KHI T&K dynamics in an idealized model that describes their behavior and character arising at larger and smaller scales due to superposed, large-amplitude GWs. The results reveal that KHI T&K dynamics arise at larger and smaller scales, and that their turbulence intensities can be comparable to those of the GWs. 
    more » « less
  4. Abstract Mountain waves are known sources of fluctuations in the upper atmosphere. However, their effects over the Continental United States (CONUS) are considered modest as compared to hot spots such as the Southern Andes. Here, we present an observation‐guided case study examining the dynamics of gravity waves (GWs) and their impacts on the ionosphere over the CONUS prior to the cold air outbreak in December 2022, which resulted from a significant distortion of the tropospheric polar vortex. The investigation relies on MERRA‐2 and ERA5 reanalysis data sets for the climatological contextualization, analysis of GWs based on National Aeronautics and Space Administration Aqua satellite's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, 557.7 and 630.0 nm airglow emission observations, and the measurements of ionospheric disturbances retrieved from Global Navigation Satellite System signal‐based total electron content (TEC) and Super Dual Auroral Radar Network observations. We demonstrate that the tropospheric polar jet stream shifted toward the Rocky Mountains, generated large amplitude GWs (up to 11 K of brightness temperature), which, aided by winter‐time winds over mid‐latitudes, could propagate to mesospheric heights. The breaking of GWs plausibly led to the generation of a plethora of secondary acoustic and GWs that eventually emerged as the sources of extensive ionospheric fluctuations of ∼3–30 min periods and up to 0.7 TECu, observed across the entire CONUS for several days. This case offers a valuable demonstration of the interplay between tropospheric circulation and the ionosphere over CONUS, pointing to the need for a better understanding of wave‐driven deep‐atmosphere coupled dynamics. 
    more » « less
  5. We review the mechanism of multi-step vertical coupling (MSVC) via secondary and higher-order gravity waves (GWs), and its relevance for observed GW perturbations and the circulation in the upper mesosphere and thermosphere. Since the momentum deposition following the breaking or dissipation of a GW packet is localized in space and time, it leads to an imbalance in the ambient flow which in turn results in the generation of secondary or higher-order GWs. This local “body force” (LBF) mechanism is essential for MSVC. We argue that small-scale secondary GWs resulting directly from GW instability form a macro-turbulent cascade that leads to the LBF. We present a simple scale analysis supporting this interpretation with respect to observed GW spectra. Several examples of MSVC are reviewed. These include 1) an explanation of the observed persistent GWs and prevailing eastward winds in the winter mesopause region at middle to high latitudes via secondary GWs, 2) evidence that many of the daytime traveling ionospheric disturbances in the F region during winter and low geomagnetic activity are driven by higher-order GWs from MSVC, 3) the dependence of MSVC during wintertime on the strength of the polar vortex, and 4) the secondary GW disturbances in the thermosphere and ionospheric that were triggered by the Tonga volcanic eruption on January 15, 2022. Furthermore, we describe the GW-resolving whole-atmosphere model that was primarily used in corresponding studies of MSVC, and we discuss some open questions. 
    more » « less