Collaborative Research: Isentropic Chemical Transport Modeling

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This award is one of two made to provide support for a collaborative research project. The companion award is to Dr. Plumb, MIT (ATM-9813327). The project involves the development of a chemical transport model in isentropic coordinates. Isentropic coordinates have the advantage of potentially better capturing the transport characteristics of the atmosphere because they represent surfaces of neutral buoyancy and, thus, are a more natural coordinate for transport. The starting point is an existing chemical transport model, the MATCH model developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. This model's vertical coordinate will be converted to an isentropic system and the sub-grid scale mixing and boundary layer mixing parameterizations modified accordingly. It is expected that, in particular, the model will better capture the nature of the transport near the tropopause and thereby contribute to better understanding of stratospheric-tropospheric exchange processes. The principal investigators will test the model's realism by comparing simulations of trace gas transport with other model results and with observations. This project is supported jointly by the Atmospheric Chemistry and Large-scale Dynamic Meteorology Programs.